TUSCALOOSA ? Louisiana Tech plays an important non-conference contest Wednesday night when the Lady Techsters face Alabama at 6 p.m. CST at Coleman Coliseum.
Tech (3-2) is coming off an 82-60 win over Stephen F. Austin Saturday night and with a win over the Crimson Tide (2-5) could gain some more momentum heading into a four-game home stand over the next two weeks.
?I thought we played really well last time out,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?I thought we got better as a team defensively. We held (SFA) to 60 points and under 40 percent shooting. Offensively, we continue to score points. If we can get outside shooting to go along with our inside play, we will have a good team.?
Sophomore guard
Tiawana Pringle provided the outside shooting in the win over SFA, scorching the nets for a career-high 20 points while hitting six three-pointers. As a team, Tech is shooting 43 percent from the field and an impressive 40 percent from behind the three-point line.
Tech continues to be led by the inside duo of
JoKeirra Sneed (14.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 55% FG) and
Shanavia Dowdell (11.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 52% FG) while true freshman
Adrienne Johnson (9.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 48% FG) provides depth in the post off the Lady Techster bench.
Sophomore
Whitney Jones (12.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg), senior
Nastassja Levingston (9.2 ppg, 35% 3FG) and Pringle (8.6 ppg, 60% 3FG) provide the scoring for Long and Co. from the perimeter. Tech is averaging 78.4 points a game and has had five different players lead them in scoring through the first five games.
?I love the balance,? Long said. ?It?s great when you have five, six players in double figures. It just makes it difficult for opponents to focus on just one player. At the same time, we are looking for that one or two consistent scorers; players that we know we can go to every night.?
Alabama has gotten off to a slow start although the Crimson Tide won their last game 53-47 over Tennessee Tech. Bama has struggled to score this year but has done a good job defensively, holding their opponents to only 35 percent shooting and 53.1 points per game.
?This is going to be a challenge playing an SEC opponent on the road,? Long said. ?We are still a young team but at the same time I feel good about our direction. Hopefully, the momentum from Saturday night will carry over in this game.?
Tech leads the all-time series against Alabama 10-1, including last year?s 66-57 win in Ruston.
The contest can be heard on KPCH 99.3 FM in Ruston and via the internet at www.thepeach993.com with the pregame show beginning at 5:30 p.m.
