RUSTON - Although the University of Hawaii women's basketball team is uncharacteristically struggling to win games this year with one of the nation's youngest squads, Louisiana Tech head coach Kurt Budke knows the Rainbow Wahine can still play very good defense.

Budke's sixth-ranked Lady Techsters (17-2, 10-1 WAC) host Hawaii (5-14, 3-7 WAC) Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center at 7 p.m.

Hawaii's roster boasts only one senior and two juniors as head coach Vince Goo, in his 17th year at the helm, has faced the challenge of replacing three starters and six letter winners off of last year's team.

Goo and the Rainbow Wahine are in fairly uncharted waters as Hawaii has only suffered through two losing seasons under Goo's reign. However, the lack of offense has been the biggest Achilles heel for Hawaii as it ranks dead last in the Western Athletic Conference in scoring at 58.1 points per contest. As a team, Hawaii is shooting only 35.6 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from the three-point line.

Despite Hawaii's offensive woes, Goo's club has managed to stay competitive thanks to great coaching and a collapsing zone defense that forces its opponents to beat them from outside most of the time.

"Anytime you face Hawaii, you know they are going to be well prepared," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "Vince does an outstanding job with them. This year is no exception. They are young and have struggled, but they continue to compete. They will definitely make it tough on us offensively."

The first time these two teams met, the Lady Techsters won 67-50 on the island on Jan. 17, the 67 points being the third lowest output for Tech this season behind the 63 against Tulsa and 65 against Tennessee.

However, the Lady Techsters have been on an offensive tear as of late, scoring 85 points or more in four of their last five games. Much of that credit goes to the improved inside play of forwards Amisha Carter and Trina Frierson, who are tied for No. 1 in the WAC in scoring at 16.7 points per game.

When Carter and Frierson aren't hurting Tech opponents inside, guards Amber Obaze (12.7 ppg), Erica Smith-Taylor (12.3 ppg) and Lakiste Barkus (9.6 ppg) are doing the damage from the outside.

Tech leads the all-time series with Hawaii 12-0, including a 2-0 mark in games played in Ruston.

The game can be heard on KXKZ-FM 107.5 and via the Internet at www.latechsports.com while video and audio streaming of the game can also be accessed through BulldogVision by logging onto www.latechsports.com.