HOUSTON - The Rice Lady Owls are dangerous at Autry Court. Louisiana Tech learned that lesson the hard way in February of 2002 with a 57-56 defeat, a loss that snapped the Lady Techsters 77-game conference-winning streak.

Although that game is almost two years old, the Lady Techster coaching staff remembers it vividly and won't let this year's squad forget as eighth-ranked Tech (8-1, 1-0 WAC) readies for another battle against Rice (4-6, 1-0) Monday night at 7 p.m.

"I know I haven't forgotten what Rice is capable of at home and I know that all of the players who experienced that game haven't forgotten either," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "You can forget about Rice's record (this year). They've beaten us before and they believe that can beat us again and that makes them dangerous. They are a very good basketball team."

During the first 10 games of the season, the Lady Owls have faced a tough non-conference slate, including losses to Arkansas, LSU, Baylor, Stanford and Nebraska, although head coach Christy McKinney's squad opened Western Athletic Conference play Saturday with an impressive 78-60 win over SMU.

Rice is arguably the deepest team in the WAC on the interior, boasting five players measuring 6-foot-2 or taller. However, the Lady Owls have been without the services of two of those players, including 6-foot-4-inch center Johnetta Hayes and 6-foot-2-inch Elisa Inman.

Hayes, a first team all-WAC selection last year, won't return until February while Inman, a transfer from Purdue, returned two games ago and has already made her presence felt for the Owls.

"They definitely have a lot of depth inside so it is important for us to stay out of foul trouble and win the rebounding battle," Budke said. "We have to pressure their guards and use our athleticism and quickness to our advantage. It should be a great game."

The Lady Techsters also must shoot the basketball better than they did in their 63-60 win over Tulsa Saturday, a game where Tech hit only 29.8 percent of its field goals. Budke said he believes his team will play better offensively.

"I thought we did a good job of running our offense (against Tulsa)," Budke said. "We got the shots we wanted; we just couldn't make any. Rice is very good defensively so we must execute well again and shoot the ball better. I think we will."

Tech, which has won 22 straight WAC regular season games, leads the series against Rice 4-1, including an impressive 80-63 win over the Lady Owls in Houston last season.

The game can be heard on KXKZ-FM 107.5 and via the Internet at www.z1075fm.com with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m.