RUSTON - As a member of the Western Athletic Conference, Louisiana Tech is accustomed to traveling.

Good thing as the No. 5 ranked Lady Techsters (27-2) received the No. 5 seed in the Mideast Regional of the 2004 NCAA Tournament and will once again be hopping on a plane Thursday to fly to Missoula, Montana, to face the 12th-seed and home-standing Montana Grizzlies (27-4) in a first round contest at Dahlburg Arena Saturday.

No. 4 seed Texas Tech (24-7) will face 13th-seeded Maine (25-6) in the other game at the Missoula sub-regional site with the winners playing Monday. Game times for the first and second rounds won't be released until Monday.

With its 76-52 win over Rice Saturday in the championship game of the WAC Tournament, Louisiana Tech earned its 23rd straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and Sunday the Techster received the news of their seeding and opponents.

"We feel like obviously we deserved a better seeding once again," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "When the college coaches vote you as the No. 5 ranked team in the country, you feel like they know what they are talking about. However, we also understand that it doesn't matter now. We have to prepare to play a very good Montana team in a tough environment. It will be a challenge."

The game will match two of the hottest teams in the country as Louisiana Tech boasts a 19-game winning streak with its last loss coming Jan. 5 at Rice while Montana has won 17 straight contests with its last setback coming Jan. 6 at Colorado State.

The Grizzlies ran through the Big Sky Conference, posting a perfect 14-0 mark in the regular season and then winning the league's conference tournament title with a 66-62 win over Idaho State Saturday. The only Top 25 team Montana has played this year is Texas, who defeated the Grizzlies 85-46 on Nov. 30 in the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic.

Montana is led offensively by 6-foot-3-inch center Hollie Tyler (13.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg), 5-foot-10-inch senior forward Julie Deming (13.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and 5-foot-9-inch sophomore guard Katie Edwards (10.3 ppg, 3.0 apg).

However, the Grizzlies are known for their defense, holding opponents to only 54.8 points per game and 36 percent shooting.

Tickets for the contest will go on sale at the Louisiana Tech Ticket Office Tuesday at noon.