Jan. 21, 2011
RUSTON - The past will meet the present Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center when Louisiana Tech hosts Nevada in an important Western Athletic Conference women's basketball showdown at 7 p.m.
The game, which pits the WAC's top two scorers in LA Tech's Adrienne Johnson (21.8 ppg) and Nevada's Tahnee Robinson (21.3 ppg), culminates a reunion weekend as coaches, players and support staff from the Lady Techsters three national championship teams (81, 82, 88) return home to celebrate the past.
"This is going to be a special, special weekend," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "It will be so amazing to have all of these former Lady Techster greats back here. It's just going to be an awesome experience for all of us who were a part of that as well as our current players."
Following a sold-out luncheon at Squire Creek Country Club which will feature a multitude of speakers from former Tech President F. Jay Taylor to legendary coach Sonja Hogg to Weatherspoon herself, LA Tech will hit the court at 7 p.m. to face a highly-dangerous and talented Wolf Pack team.
Nevada (13-4, 2-2 WAC) has already posted a number of impressive wins this season, defeating Arizona, North Carolina State, BYU, Illinois State and Pepperdine during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
However, the Wolf Pack have already faulted twice in the early portion of the WAC schedule falling at Utah State 81-69 in their last outing while also losing at home in overtime to Idaho.
Robinson, a first team all-WAC selection a year ago, is one of the WAC's top three-point shooters, hitting 38 percent (40-106) from beyond the arc while also connecting on 45 percent of her field goals and 85 percent of her free throws.
However, Nevada is far from a one-woman show as forward Shavon Moore ranks third in the WAC in scoring, averaging 16.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest.
The Lady Techsters counter with Johnson as the 6-foot-1-inch All-American candidate is coming off a career-high 36-point effort in Tech's 91-74 win over Utah State Thursday night. Johnson has eclipsed the 20-point plateau in nine of 16 games and has scored 30 or more on three occasions, including her last two outings at home.
The contest can be heard on the LA Tech Sports Network on ESPN 97.7 FM with the pregame show beginning at 6:30 p.m. Fans can also access audio and video of the game by purchasing a subscription to LA Tech All-Access on www.latechsports.com.
Tech fans in attendance will get an opportunity to recognize the members of the national championship teams as they will be honored at halftime.
