March 2, 2011
GameDay Central
RUSTON - Louisiana Tech will attempt to clinch a share of the Western Athletic Conference regular season title Thursday night when the Lady Techsters host Boise State at 6 p.m. in the first game of a basketball doubleheader at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Following the women's game, the Bulldogs will host Nevada with tipoff set for approximately 8:15 p.m.
LA Tech (21-6, 13-1 WAC) holds a one-game lead over Fresno State in the WAC standings following its five-point loss at Nevada Monday Night. The loss snapped a 14-game winning streak and was its first since falling to Marquette on Dec. 30 in Miami.
Despite the loss, the Lady Techsters control their own destiny as with wins this week in their last two games, LA Tech would win the regular season title outright. If Tech splits its last two games, the Lady Techsters would be co-WAC champions with Fresno State (as long as the Bulldogs win their final game of the year against Nevada), but LA Tech would still earn the No. 1 seed in the upcoming league tournament.
The challenge of winning the WAC title continues Thursday with a contest against a Boise State team that snapped a nine-game losing streak in its last outing, a road victory at San Jose State. The Broncos (12-16, 3-11) are still fighting for seeding in the upcoming WAC Tournament in Vegas.
A Boise State win (in either of its last two games) or a San Jose State loss to Fresno State on Thursday would guarantee the Broncos the final berth into next week's WAC Tournament at Las Vegas, Nev. San Jose State would have to win its final two games against Fresno State and Utah State at home to have a chance of passing Boise State.
Boise State nears the end of a chapter in the program's history on this last road trip which also includes a contest at New Mexico State Saturday. The last 10 years the Broncos have called the Western Athletic Conference home, but following this season, the school will move into the Mountain West Conference.
Boise State is led by guard Kati Isham (13.3 ppg, 67 three-pointers) and forward Lauren Lenhardt (12.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg) who are both averaging double figures this season. As a team, Boise State is shooting 41 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line but defensively the Broncos have struggled this year, allowing an average of almost 70 points per game.
LA Tech counters with an offensive attack that is averaging 73.7 points per game and shooting 42 percent from the field for the year.
Adrienne Johnson (21.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg), Tarkeisha Wysinger-Mackey (11.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Whitney Jones (10.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg) are Tech's top three scorers although Jasmine Bendolph (8.0 ppg) has picked up her offensive production the last month of the season.
Tech leads the all-time series against Boise State 16-7, including a 93-86 victory over the Broncos on Jan. 29 in Idaho. In that contest, Adrienne Johnson led six players in double figures by scoring 21 points as Tech shot 53 percent from the field.
The contest can be heard on the LA Tech Sports Network on ESPN 97.7 FM with the pregame show beginning at 5:30 p.m.
