Schedule

RUSTON - Louisiana Tech head coach Tyler Summitt has mixed emotions about his team's schedule as the first year Lady Techster boss prepares for the 2014-15 season.

Summitt is excited about starting his first season in Ruston and getting an opportunity to host as the Thomas Assembly Center the top three teams from last year's Conference USA final standings. He is disappointed about the lack of non-conference home games.

Tech released its schedule Thursday which features 11 home games, including only two non-conference regular season games against Loyola-New Orleans (Dec. 7) and Nicholls State (Dec. 15). Tech fans will get a chance to see two exhibition home games in November against Mississippi College (Nov. 1) and LSU-Alexandria (Nov. 8).

"Our goal every year is to have a very competitive, attractive non-conference home schedule," Summitt said. "This year we got a late start due to the transition, and we weren't able to accomplish that goal with only two non-conference home games. This will be the only year it is like this. We already have agreements for return games from LSU and Mississippi State next year and Utah the following year.

"We are excited about our home Conference USA games as we host some of the top teams in the league in Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss and UTEP. I hope that our fans will come out and support these young ladies this year. They have been working extremely hard all summer and so far this fall."

The Lady Techsters non-conference road schedule does include a number of high-profile opponents, including LSU (Dec. 3), Mississippi State (Dec. 11) and Utah (Dec. 20). Tech will also compete in the four-team tournament hosted by Georgia Tech with an opening round game against Harvard (Dec. 29) and a possible match-up against the Yellow Jackets.

In addition to the games against LSU, Nicholls State and Loyola-New Orleans, Tech also travels in-state to Northwestern State (Nov. 18) and UL-Lafayette (Nov. 22). Tech opens the season at Stephen F. Austin (Nov. 15) and also travels to Alabama A&M (Nov. 29).

"Despite the lack of home games, I do feel our non-conference schedule is a good mix of opponents that will prepare us for Conference USA play," Summitt said.

The Lady Techsters open league play with three straight home games against Southern Miss (Jan. 4), UTEP (Jan. 8) and UTSA (Jan. 10). Other home C-USA contests are against North Texas (Jan. 22), Rice (Jan. 24), UAB (Feb. 5), Middle Tennessee (Feb. 7), Charlotte (Feb. 19), and Old Dominion (Feb. 21).

Tech plays home and home league series with UAB (road Jan. 15), Middle Tennessee (road Jan. 17), UTEP (road Feb. 26), UTSA (road Feb. 28) and Southern Miss (road March 7). The Lady Techsters also play on the road against Western Kentucky (Jan. 29), Marshall (Jan. 31), Florida Atlantic (Feb. 12) and FIU (Feb. 14).

The Jan. 29 trip to E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky will renew a long-time rivalry between the Lady Techsters and Western Kentucky, who begins its first year as a member of Conference USA.

Season tickets are on sale in the Tech Ticket Office and can be purchased by calling 318-257-3631 or emailing TechTickets@latech.edu. Fans can follow the Lady Techster program through social media, including Twitter (@LATechWBB), Facebook (LATechWBB) and Instagram (LATechWBB).