LITTLE ROCK ? Louisiana Tech will attempt to snap a four-game losing streak Thursday night when the Lady Techsters face Arkansas-Little Rock at 7 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.
After starting the season with four wins in its first six games, Tech (4-6) has found itself mired in an offensive slump over the past five games ? four of those losses.
Tech head coach Chris Long knows that his team needs a win, but also knows that it won?t come easy against an Arkansas-Little Rock team that was picked to win its side of the Sun Belt Conference.
?Little Rock is a very tough team,? Long said. ?They are very good at running the motion offense. They have much better athletes than they?ve had in the past, and they can be very methodical offensively and force teams to defend for the entire 30 seconds of shot clock.
?They are very sound on defense. They forced you to settle for jump shots a lot of times. They are a well-rounded team that was picked to win their half of the Sun Belt Conference. They return a lot of experience from last year?s team that won 21 games.?
Little Rock (6-3) ranks No. 6 in the country in scoring defense, allowing opponents to average only 50.3 points a contest and shoot 34.5 percent from the field. It?ll mark the second straight game that Louisiana Tech has faced a team ranked in the top 10 in the country defensively.
Over the last five games, Tech is shooting only 30.6 percent from the field while averaging 53.8 points a game. Tech has not scored more than 50 points in any of its last three games.
?It boils down to we are going to need to make some shots,? Long said. ?We are going to have to get some scoring from our perimeter players. We have gotten better defensively in the last few games although we are still not there. Offensively, our shooters are going to have to find some confidence and make some shots.
?It?s going to be difficult to score all of our points in the paint therefore our guards are going to have to step up.?
For the second straight game, Tech will be without the services of senior guard
Nastassja Levingston, who is serving the final game of a two-game suspension. Freshman
Tarkeisha Wysinger will get the start in place of Levingston.
Tech leads the all-time series against UALR 5-0, including an 81-58 win the last time the two programs met in 2003-04.
What: Louisiana Tech (4-6) vs. UALR (6-3)
When: Thursday at 7 p.m.
Where: Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark.
Radio: ESPN 97.7 FM
Internet Audio: www.espn977.com
