Nov. 12, 2009
RUSTON - Louisiana Tech will open the 2009-10 season Friday night when the Lady Techsters host Centenary at 7 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Head coach Teresa Weatherspoon and Co. return the nucleus of last year's team that won 21 games, captured a share of the Western Athletic Conference regular season title and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.
Weatherspoon led the Lady Techsters on a late-season run that saw the team win nine of their last 11 games, including the final seven regular season conference tilts. However, despite that success, Weatherspoon said it will have very little effect on this year's team.
"Last year was last year," Weatherspoon said. "We are playing for this year. I told the girls that last year is history and that we are playing for this season. The only thing that last year did was give these young ladies the confidence to know that they belong."
LA Tech's first team all-conference duo of Shanavia Dowdell and Adrienne Johnson return after leading the Western Athletic Conference in scoring last season, averaging 16.1 points and 15.5 points per game respectively.
Dowdell led the WAC with 18 double doubles while Johnson led the league with 11 games of 20-plus points, including a career-high 31 in the WNIT first round win over SMU.
Centenary welcomes first year head coach Bojan Jankovic who takes over a Ladies team that posted a 4-26 mark last year, including a 2-16 record in Summit League action. The Ladies return their top two scorers in junior center Anne Farrell (8.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and junior forward Ashley Jackson (8.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg).
LA Tech leads the all-time series against the Ladies 3-0, including a 97-47 win in Ruston in 2002-03 the last time the two teams met.
The Lady Techsters are 28-7 all-time in season openers, including 30-5 in home openers (23-4 in home openers at the Thomas Assembly Center). Tech is also a perfect 10-0 against current members of the Summit League.
The contest can be heard live throughout the LA Tech Sports Network, including ESPN 97.7 FM (Ruston), KLKL 95.7 FM (Shreveport/Bossier City), KBYO 92.7 FM (Monroe/Farmerville), and KVCL 92.1 FM (Winnfield).
LA Tech fans can also access the game via the Internet by subscribing to LA Tech All-Access (log onto www.latechsports.com) as the audio and video will be streamed live.
