Jan. 23, 2011
RUSTON - Louisiana Tech had something up its sleeves Saturday night when the Lady Techsters defeated Nevada 67-43 before 2,235 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Literally.
With members of the program's three national championship teams sitting courtside, the Lady Techsters broke out the sleeved jerseys for the first time since March 15, 2002 against Cal-Santa Barbara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The new throwback uniforms designed by Under Armour were a tribute to the storied program's past on a weekend where the University and its fans were honoring the three national title teams on the 30th anniversary of the very first.
And as pleasantly surprised as the LA Tech fans were of the new sleeved uniforms - the Lady Techster program was the last Division I program to do away with sleeved jerseys - the Tech players were just as shocked.
"At first they told us to come into the locker room early and we thought we had gotten in trouble," said junior guard Jasmine Bendolph. "When we saw the jerseys it was a shock to us because we didn't know anything about it. It was neat."
Asked if she felt that she and her current Techster teammates fully appreciated the significance of the sleeved jerseys, Bendolph didn't hesitate when answering.
"I think we did," Bendolph said. "It was an honor to have (all of those former Techsters) watching the game and to have us in the old school jerseys like they once wore."
Senior All-American candidate Adrienne Johnson agreed.
"It was a surprise to us because we didn't even know until last five minutes of halftime warm-ups," Johnson said. "We were excited about it. (Coach Weatherspoon) told us that we were honoring the past. We were excited and ready to wear them.
"It was great feeling (to play in front of all of those former players). At first I was kind of nervous, but as the game progressed I calmed down. It was great. We wanted to make them proud. We wanted to come out and play hard and get a win for them."
That excitement spilled over onto the court for 40 minutes as the Lady Techsters played almost flawless basketball at times, recording their best defensive effort of the year while also committing a season-low six turnovers.
"We had something up our sleeves," joked Techster head coach Teresa Weatherspoon following the game.
Or was Weatherspoon joking?
Based on history, there might just be something to the mystical sleeved jerseys. After all, history doesn't lie.
The six turnovers committed by the Techsters were the fewest by a LA Tech team in almost nine years. The last time the Lady Techsters committed fewer than six turnovers in a game was 261 games ago.
That's right -- on March 15, 2002 against Cal-Santa Barbara - also the last time a LA Tech team took the floor with sleeves.
Coincidence? Some people would probably say so but true long-time Lady Techster fans will argue that Weatherspoon was serious.
The Lady Techsters truly do have something up those sleeves.
