RUSTON - According to Louisiana Tech head coach Kurt Budke, statistics don't always tell the entire story.

If you look at the current stat sheet for Southern Methodist at this point of the season, the Mustangs (7-8, 3-3 WAC) - Louisiana Tech's opponent Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center - don't look all that impressive.

However, don't try to tell Budke that because he's not buying it. Despite the fact SMU doesn't have a single player averaging double digits in points, the Mustangs have Tech's respect.

"There's not one person you can lock in on because they have seven people averaging (almost seven points or more per game)," Budke said. "They are a balanced team that shoots about 20 three-pointers a game. If they get hot, they can really hurt you so we have to do a good job of defending them."

University of Texas transfer Kaira White leads SMU in scoring, averaging 9.3 points per game while junior forward Sarah Davis is second on the team at 9.0 points per game. The Mustangs rank No. 1 in the Western Athletic Conference in three-pointers made per game at 6.1 but are only shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc.

Head coach Rhonda Rompola's squad hopes to break a two-game losing streak after dropping a pair of road games last week, falling at Hawaii and at San Jose State in overtime. However, SMU has already shown it can go on the road and win in the conference, defeating Tulsa 72-64 in early January.

The Lady Techsters (12-2, 5-1) put their four-game winning streak on the line and are currently tied with Rice for first place in the conference standings. Budke said his team has plenty it still has to improve on by the time March rolls around.

"We are only shooting 24 percent from the three-point line in conference play, so we either have to improve on that or quit shooting the three," Budke said. "You don't have to make five or six threes a game to win a game but you have to shoot a better percentage. I've told the players that we shouldn't be firing up one-pass threes right now. Get the ball inside first."

Budke also said he wants to see his nonstarters also have to play better then they did on the past road trip.

"I also think we have to continue to build our depth off the bench, that is a key to this team," Budke said. "I told them in practice yesterday that they don't have to go in and score like our starters score, but they have to rebound, play good defense, run the floor and not turn the basketball over."

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be heard on KXKZ-FM 107.5 or via the Internet at www.z1075fm.com. Live audio and video streaming of the game can also be seen over the Internet by logging onto www.latechsports.com and clicking on the BulldogVision link.