RUSTON - All Louisiana Tech head coach Kurt Budke has to do in order to get his team's attention for Saturday night's 7 p.m. game against UTEP is point to the Miners 16-point win over Rice on Jan. 10.

That victory - the only conference loss thus far for the Lady Owls - came less than a week after Rice had defeated the Lady Techsters in overtime. It also proved just how improved UTEP (10-7, 5-3) is this season.

"That's the film we are looking at today; UTEP's win over Rice," Budke said. "Rice hasn't been beaten by 16 points by the great team's this year. Stanford beat them by 10, Nebraska beat them by three, and then here UTEP beats them by 16. They are a very dangerous ball club."

However, like many of the Western Athletic Conference teams, the Miners look like giant killers one night and then disappear the next as illustrated by UTEP's 54-39 loss at Southern Methodist Thursday night. That defeat came on the heals of a very impressive five-game winning streak.

One area that UTEP does match up with Tech favorably is in the post where the Miners boast a front line consisting of 6-foot-6-inch Marta Dydek - younger sister of WNBA all-star Margo Dydek - , 6-4 Ingrid Goslin and 6-4 Sussie Kruse.

"They are a very deep ball club, and probably the biggest team we've played this year," Budke said. "They can go 6-6, 6-4, 6-4 across the front line if they want, and I don't know too many programs that can do that. I think the key to them is their ability to handle the pressure. They have done a good job of taking care of the ball this year."

Senior guard Vaida Zagurskyte leads UTEP in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game while four other Miners are averaging 7.4 points or more. However, the Miners have been winning with defense this season ranking No. 1 in the league in scoring defense, allowing only 57.5 point a contest.

UTEP also ranks No. 1 in three-point field goal percentage defense, No. 2 in rebounding defense and No. 3 in field goal percentage defense. The Miners defense will be tested against a Louisiana Tech team that ranks No. 1 in the WAC and No. 3 in the nation in scoring offense at 84.3 points per game.

The Lady Techsters enter the game following a 95-57 win over Boise State on Thursday night, a game that saw Tech explode for 58 second half points while forcing a season-high 38 turnovers.

Tech leads the all-time series with UTEP 4-0, including a 108-54 win against the Miners in Ruston last season.

The game can be heard on KNBB-FM 99.3.