RUSTON, La. – To describe the series between Louisiana Tech and UTEP as streaky would be an understatement.

The Lady Techsters lead the all-time series against the Miners 14-6. Tech won the first nine meetings ever between the two programs before UTEP responded by winning six of the next seven. The Lady Techsters have now won four straight.

So when Tech (9-3, 4-2 C-USA) and UTEP (6-5, 3-3 C-USA) meet Friday (6:30 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m.) at the Thomas Assembly Center, it will be the Lady Techsters who have the winning streak on the line.

Based on the performance of both teams this year, the two games should be highly competitive.

"We have a big test ahead of us this week with a home stand against UTEP," said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. "They have a very solid group led by (Katia) Gallegos at the point who has a lot of energy and can really score it. UTEP has a lot of complementary pieces around her that do a really, really nice job. They are balanced in scoring. They defend well. They mix up their defenses. So we are going to have to prepared for a lot."

Gallegos, just a sophomore, is one of the top young players in Conference USA, averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game for the Miners. She is the straw that stirs the Miners proverbial basketball drink.
            
UTEP is averaging 68.8 points per game and is shooting 42 percent from the field on the year, although those numbers have taken a slight dip in C-USA play (64.8 ppg). In addition to Gallegos, UTEP boasts five other players averaging between 7.5 points and 9.0 points per contest.

"They run a lot of different offensive stuff," said Stoehr. "Kevin (Baker) does a great job with them. We are going to have to protect our home court by defending well. We have to be aggressive and attack offensively. We have to handle their pressure and attack that press and really go get some offensive rebounds and keep them off the defensive glass. Big week for us. Great opportunity at home to play against a very good UTEP team and hopefully build on what we started last weekend."

The Lady Techsters enter the weekend with a modest three-game winning streak on the line after sweeping a road series at UTSA six days ago. Tech currently sits in third place on the West Division of C-USA, one game behind North Texas and one game in front of UTEP.

LA Tech is one of the top defensive teams in C-USA, ranking No. 1 in turnovers forced per game (19.2), No. 2 in scoring defense (58.2 ppga), No. 2 in turnover margin (+3.25) and No. 3 in field goal percentage defense (.374%). Tech has held all six of its C-USA opponents to 61 points or less and only one team all season (Texas) has scored more than 69 points against the Lady Techsters.

Tech also boasts an impressive 46 charges drawn this season, almost four per game, led by Keiunna Walker's eye-popping 27.

Both contests this weekend can be heard on the LA Tech Sports Network on 99.3 FM and seen through a paid subscription to CUSATV.com.