Jan. 26, 2011
MOSCOW - Louisiana Tech puts a six-game winning streak and a perfect 5-0 conference record on the line Thursday night when the Lady Techsters travel to Cowan Spectrum to face Idaho at 8 p.m. CT.
LA Tech (13-5, 5-0 WAC) hasn't lost since an 83-75 setback against Marquette Dec. 30 in the championship game of the Fun and Sun Classic in Miami. Included in the six-game winning streak is a pair of overtime road victories as well as a convincing 67-43 win over Nevada in its last outing.
The Lady Techsters are currently alone in first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings, one game ahead of second-place Fresno State and two full games ahead of three other teams including the Vandals.
Idaho (10-7, 3-2 WAC) has been tough at home this year, posting a 5-1 mark with the lone loss coming to Fresno State 84-67 on Jan. 10. The Vandals are coming off a 68-48 win over Boise State Saturday at home.
All-American candidate Adrienne Johnson continues to pace the Lady Techsters, averaging 22.0 points and 8.8 rebounds a game. Johnson, who ranks ninth in the country in scoring, has scored in double figures in all but one game this season and has eclipsed the 20-point plateau 10 times and the 30-point plateau three times.
Whitney Jones (10.9 ppg, 30 three-pointers), Tarkeisha Wysinger-Mackey (8.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Shantale Bramble-Donaldson (7.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg) have also played in a big role in Tech ranking second in the WAC in scoring at 71.7 points per contest.
Idaho is paced by its own version of Johnson in senior forward Yinka Olorunnife, who leads the team in scoring (15.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.7 rpg). Olorunnife is a 6-foot-1-inch versatile forward who ranks second on the team in three-point field goals (18) while also leading the team in steals (32).
The game pits the top two defensive teams in the WAC as LA Tech ranks first in scoring defense (61.6 ppga) and Idaho ranks second (64.5 ppga). The Vandals also rank first in field goal percentage defense (.370) while the Lady Techsters rank first in three-point field goal percentage defense (.278).
Tech leads the all-time series against Idaho 11-0, although two of the last three meetings have been decided in overtime.
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. Fans can hear the audio over the internet by subscribing to LA Tech All-Access at www.latechsports.com.
