MISSOULA, Montana - When Louisiana Tech takes the court Saturday night in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, the fifth-ranked and fifth-seeded Lady Techsters (27-2) will be facing more than just the 12th seeded and home-standing Montana Lady Griz (27-4).

Head coach Kurt Budke's crew will also be facing an expected sellout crowd of over 7,500 at Dahlberg Arena, where Montana has won 22 straight games dating back to last season and has recorded an all-time mark of 347-31.

"The NCAA didn't do us any favors sending us way up here to play our first round game against a lower seed in their sold out arena," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "However, our players thrive in those types of environments. They've been here before and I know they will be ready tomorrow night."

However, despite the fact the local Missoula media is attempting to make Dahlberg Arena into an unbeatable environment, the Lady Techsters aren't buying into it as they remain focused on their season long goal of attempting to return to the Final Four.

In the past two years, Louisiana Tech has won road game at Penn State before 8,283 Nittany Lion fans and at New Mexico before 9,692 Lobos fanatics. The Techsters also played before 11,804 at Tennessee earlier this season, a fact that is not lost on the Tech players.

"To be honest, we love to play in full gyms," said Tech senior forward Trina Frierson during Friday's press conferences. "Playing before sold out crowds - even on the road - just pumps us up even more. We are looking forward to it."

Montana, winner of the Big Sky Conference's regular season and tournament titles, will have its own concerns heading into the game, having to face arguably the quickest and one of the most athletic teams in the country in Louisiana Tech.

"I'm most impressed by Louisiana Tech's half-court defense," said Montana head coach Robin Selvig. "They have great hands and many of their steals come in the half court, and they turn them into lay-ups quickly and that's the challenge. They are as good as I've ever seen as making a turnover into a lay-up.""

The game will pit the nation's No. 2 ranked team in turnover forced in Tech (25.0 tofpg) against the country's No. 2 ranked team in fewest turnovers committed in Montana (12.1 topg). Montana also ranks No. 9 in scoring defense (54.8 ppga) while Louisiana Tech ranks No. 2 in scoring offense (83.7 ppg).

Thus, can Louisiana Tech force Montana into an up-tempo style that favors the Techsters or will the Lady Griz be able to keep the game into more of a half court tempo?

"I think Montana is very disciplined, both offensively and defensively," Budke said. "They do a great job of taking care of the basketball as well as slowing down the tempo. Our styles are so different. If the game is in the 50s or 60s, it favors Montana. If it is in the 70s or 80s, it favors us."

Perhaps the key match-up personnel wise will be the two starting point guards as Montana's Brooke Lorenzen and Louisiana Tech's Tasha Crain should provide a memorable moment for the fans. Lorenzen enters the contest with an eye-popping 241 assists and only 57 turnovers while Crain is widely considered one of the top defensive guards in the country.

"(Lorenzen) has an unbelievable assist to turnover ratio," Budke said. "I haven't ever seen anything like it. However, we have a pretty talented young lady in Tasha Crain who is pretty good about putting pressure on people."

Montana is led offensively by 6-foot-3-inch center Hollie Tyler (13.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg), 5-foot-10 guard Julie Deming (13.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and 5-foot-9-inch guard Katie Edwards (10.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg). The Lady Griz possess a potent three-point threat as the team is shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc.

Tip-off for the contest is set for approximately 10:30 p.m. CST as the game will start 30 minutes after the completion of No. 4 seed Texas Tech vs. No. 13 seed Maine. The two winners will face off Monday night in the second round of the tournament.

The game will be shown on ESPN2 regionally as well as the ESPN Full Court Package, Dish Network and Direct TV. The game can also be heard on KXKZ-FM 107.5 and via the Internet at www.z1075fm.com.