FRISCO, Texas – It's a brand new season for all twelve teams qualifying for the 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Basketball Championships in Texas this week.

And for Louisiana Tech, it's new life after the Lady Techsters stumbled down the stretch in the regular season, losing their final four games.

Tech (14-15) will face Charlotte (17-11) in the first round Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at The Star with a chance to advance to a second day match-up against No. 2 seed UAB.

The No. 10-seeded Lady Techsters and the No. 7-seeded 49ers meet for the second time this year with Tech handing Charlotte an 88-51 loss in Ruston on January 19. Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr knows her team didn't see Charlotte's best effort in the first meeting and expects a hard-fought contest on Wednesday.

"I think we will see a different team in Frisco on Wednesday," said Stoehr. "They have a great point guard in Laia Raventos. They want to play fast. They want to get out and attack. They have a versatile forward in (Jade) Phillips who has played really well down the stretch. They have a number of offensive weapons that can really cause problems for opponents.

"Raventos had been out of the lineup the last few games until their last game, and they struggled a little (offensively) without her. But they were still able to win games which says a lot. She is back. She is a senior and I'm sure she doesn't want their season to end."

Phillips (13.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Raventos (10.7 ppg, 107 assists) are joined in double figures by guard Mariah Linney (11.0 ppg, 51 three-pointers). The trio helped lead the 49ers to five straight victories to end the regular season as Charlotte boasts the second longest winning streak of any C-USA team entering the tournament this week.

Stoehr knows her team must find a way to play better on the defensive end of the floor then it did in its final few games of the regular season.

"It starts for us in transition," said Stoehr. "We have to slow them down in transition, contain the ball and then force them to make contested shots. I thought we defended in (the first meeting against Charlotte) as well as we have this year."

Despite Tech's four-game losing streak coming into the tournament, the Lady Techsters enter this week with the ability and talent to make a run. Stoehr, who led Northwestern State to a pair of Southland Conference Tournament titles as an underdog during her time in Natchitoches, knows anything is possible.

"Last year we showed up here and had won five in a row and were really playing well," said Stoehr. "We were probably the hottest team in the league, yet we laid an egg (against North Texas). You just never know. We talked a lot as a team this week about how everyone is zero and zero. What we have done to this point to get here doesn't matter anymore. If we will go out and play with great focus, great energy and great effort as a team, anything is possible. It's March."

Tech leads the all-time series against Charlotte 5-3, including a 2-0 mark in Conference USA Tournament games.

The contest can be heard on the LA Tech Sports Network on The Peach 99.3 FM and KJVC 92.7 FM with the pregame show starting at 1 p.m. It can be seen online at ESPN+.