Dec. 28, 2011
Bulldogs vs. Spring Hill, Thursday at 5 p.m. at TAC
Lady Techsters vs. LSU, Thursday at 7 p.m. at TAC
Lady Techster GameDay
RUSTON - Louisiana Tech hosts LSU Thursday in the biggest non-conference game of the Lady Techsters schedule as the two in-state rivals will tip off at approximately 7:15 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The game will start 30 minutes after the completion of the Bulldogs home game against Spring Hill College that tips off at 5 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Teresa Weatherspooon's team enters its final non-conference game of the year having won five of its last six games, including an 82-64 victory over Tennessee Tech in its last outing on Dec. 21.
Weatherspoon knows that in order for her team to beat the much-bigger Tigers squad, they must play fundamentally sound basketball for 40 minutes.
"We must box out; that is our biggest emphasis," Weatherspoon said. "We must understand when the ball goes up, we need to put bodies on people and push them out. We can't be ball watchers and just stand around. LSU is so big. We must be fundamentally sound. Our biggest key is to rebound the basketball."
Rebounding has been LA Tech's Achilles heals this year as the Lady Techsters have been outrebounded in nine of their 14 games. Thursday's game will be a challenge as LSU's roster includes plenty of height with 10 of the 14 players measuring 6-1 or taller.
"They are aggressive and big," Weatherspoon said. "That is what stands out most as you watch them on film. They are big. Everyone says how small we are which we already know. If you take a look at them, they are big and aggressive. They want second chance opportunities. We have to make sure when they take a shot, we turn, box out and get the rebound and run."
LSU enters the contest 8-3 on the season and has made its living on the defensive end of the floor. The Tigers rank nationally in defensive field goal percentage (4th at 31.0 percent) and scoring defense (3rd at 46.5 ppga).
After dropping three of its first six games of the season, LSU has won five straight. It's biggest two wins this year have come against Top 25 Georgetown (51-40) and PAC-12 foe UCLA (58-41). LSU enters the contest having won 12 consecutive games in the month of December dating back to 2009.
"We just want to play hard," Weatherspoon said. "We want to build on the areas that we've started improving on over the last six games. There's no greater team to play against right now than LSU, with the challenges they present to us. We've improved in a number of areas in our last six games, and we know we must be even better (with those same things) in this game."
Although Jasmine Bendolph (11.9 ppg, 5.0 apg), Shantale Bramble-Donaldson (10.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Kiara Young (9.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) continue to lead LA Tech offensively, a number of underclassmen have come on strong. Freshman Whitney Frazier is averaging 11.2 points and shooting 51 percent from the field over the last six games while sophomore Jelena Vucinic is averaging 17.0 points while making her first two collegiate starts in Tech' last two outings.
The match-up will be the 27th meeting between the two programs with Louisiana Tech leading 14-12. And although LSU has won six straight in the series, including last year's 68-53 victory in Baton Rouge, Weatherspoon said the series means a lot to the state of Louisiana.
"We want to keep (the series) going," Weatherspoon said. "I think it is important for the state of Louisiana. We don't want in any way to lose that. We want to keep what most people call the (women's basketball) rivalry (in this state) going. Hopefully they want the same."
The contest can be heard on the LA Tech Sports Network on ESPN 97.7 FM, KTKC 92. 9 FM and KJVC 92.7 FM with the pregame show beginning at approximately 6:45 p.m. Fans can also watch and hear the game on the internet by purchasing a subscription to LA Tech All-Access at www.latechsports.com.
The Louisiana Tech Ticket Office will open Thursday at 2 p.m. with the doors to the arena opening at 3:30 p.m.
