RUSTON - Louisiana Tech head coach Kurt Budke couldn't care less about whom his eighth-ranked Lady Techsters are playing Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Budke said all he is concerned with is how his team will respond after its 87-84 overtime loss to Rice Monday night, a defeat that snapped Tech's 22-game conference winning streak; a game that Budke said was lost in the opening 12 minutes of play when Tech fell behind by 18 points.

"What we have to be concerned with is us," Budke said. "Not the opposition. We have to be concerned about our mental preparation for every game. We've proven that if we are excited and ready to play, we can play with anyone in the country. If not, a lot of teams can beat us."

Nevada will be Tech's opponent Thursday as the Wolfpack have the unenviable task of taking on a Louisiana Tech team that is still stinging from the loss against the Lady Owls. The Wolfpack (2-10, 1-1) are coming off a 77-62 win over Hawaii Monday, snapping Nevada's four-game losing streak.

Budke also remembers last year's home game against Nevada, a contest Tech trailed by 12 in the first half before fighting back and winning 79-67.

"Parity in women's basketball has made it where you can never take a night off," Budke said. "Our players have to understand that they have to be mentally ready to play every night; otherwise, we could lose again."

Although Nevada has struggled this season, the young Wolfpack squad has shown marked improvement recently, winning two of its last six, with its last three losses coming by one, three and seven points. Junior forward April Bankston leads Nevada offensively, averaging 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds a game while junior college guard Jocelyn Mancebo is the only other Nevada player in double figures at 11.2 points per game.

One of the biggest problems for the Lady Techsters in its last two games has been shooting the basketball as Tech hit only 29 percent of its field goals in a 63-60 win over Tulsa and 39 percent against Rice. Tech hit only 29 percent in the first half of the Rice game and fell behind by as many at 18.

"You can't wait until 90 minutes before tip-off to get mentally ready," Budke said. "It has to start in practice and carry over. If you try to get your intensity up an hour before tip-off, your game, including your shot, will suffer."

Despite falling to Rice, Louisiana Tech still has another impressive streak on the line as the Lady Techsters have won 86 straight regular season conference games at home and 151 straight at home against unranked teams.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be heard on KXKZ-FM 107.5, via the Internet at www.latechsports.com and can also be seen over the Internet by logging onto www.latechsports.com and clicking on BulldogVision.