Feb. 16, 2010
LAS CRUCES - Louisiana Tech will put its four-game winning streak on the line Wednesday night when the Lady Techsters travel to face New Mexico State at the Pan American Center at 8 p.m. CT.
Tech (16-6, 7-3 WAC) is currently in third place in the Western Athletic Conference standings, one-half game behind Nevada. New Mexico State (16-9, 6-5 WAC) is in fourth place but can make up some ground on the Lady Techsters with a win.
Shanavia Dowdell scored 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead LA Tech to a 78-64 victory over the Aggies in the first meeting of the year which came on Jan. 16 at the Thomas Assembly Center. In that contest Tech built a 21-point first half advantage before New Mexico State cut it to four with just under five minutes to play.
The contest is the first of a two-game road swing for LA Tech which travels to face Hawaii Saturday night in Honolulu.
Head coach Teresa Weatherspoon's team has won four straight games since dropping a 69-56 decision at Nevada Jan. 26 in Reno. During the Lady Techsters streak, three of the four wins have come by 15 points or more.
Dowdell continues to fuel the Lady Techsters on a nightly basis, averaging a WAC-best 18.0 points and 12.2 rebounds per game - one of only seven players in the country that lead their respective conferences in both categories.
The Calera, Ala. native ranks third nationally in rebounding and in double doubles (15) and has recorded eight straight double doubles.
Junior Adrienne Johnson (16.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and junior Whitney Jones (12.0 ppg, 28 three-pointers) continue to provide plenty of offensive support behind Dowdell.
New Mexico State provides a balanced offensive attack that features four players averaging in double figures led by Crystal Boyd (15.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg), Jasmine Lowe (15.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Madison Spence (11.4 ppg) and Danisha Corbett (10.0 ppg).
The Aggies have won three of their last four with the lone loss being a 71-60 road setback against league-leading Fresno State in their last outing.
Tech leads the all-time series against NMSU 11-2 including a 4-2 mark in Las Cruces. The contest can be heard on the LA Tech Sports Network on ESPN 97.7 FM with the pregame show beginning at 7:30 p.m.
