Friday, February 12
Birmingham, AL
2 p.m.
Louisiana Tech University
at
UAB
Photo by: Darrell James
@LATechWBB Travels to Birmingham for C-USA Series
2/11/2021 9:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Louisiana Tech (11-7, 6-6 C-USA) and UAB (7-9, 2-8) meet this weekend for a two-game league series at Bartow Arena with both games tipping at 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Friday's game will be live on CUSA.tv while Saturday's game will be on ESPN+.
When the two teams tip off for Friday's first game, it will be on the 11-month anniversary of the C-USA Tournament being cancelled.
UAB is almost a completely different team than the one that the Lady Techsters upset 66-63 in the opening round of the 2020 Conference USA Tournament last year in Frisco … just 24 hours before the shutdown began.
LA Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr knows her team is in for a battle regardless of the names on the back of the Blazer jersyes.
"It doesn't matter who Coach (Randy) Norton plugs into his lineup," said Stoehr. "They are always going to be extremely well coached. They are going to be super disciplined on the defensive end of the court. They are going to take care of the basketball, and they are going to run good basketball."
Stoehr hopes an unusual trend continues this weekend. The road team has won eight of the previous 10 meetings in this series, including each of the last five.
Home-court advantage simply has not existed when the Techsters and the Blazers play. Tech and UAB will test this basketball hypothesis.
"We need to keep that trend going," said Stoehr. "We have been very good in Bartow."
UAB is led by the inside-outside combination of forward Zakyia Weathersby (13.4 ppg, 12.1 rpg) and guard Margaret Whitely (22.1 ppg, 51 three-pointers). Weathersby is the leading rebounder in C-USA and has recorded 12 double digit rebounding games, including two 20-rebound performances against Middle Tennessee and Charlotte.
Whitley ranks No. 2 in Conference USA in scoring, has 11 20-plus point performances, including a 35-point effort against North Texas and a 34-point explosion against Chattanooga.
"Weathersby is averaging right at 13 points and 12 rebounds a game," said Stoehr. "She is a force inside. She has evolved each year and is having her best year. The interesting thing is she doesn't have those seniors around her this year and she has really stepped up her level of play. Her ability to board it on both ends of the floor is impressive. She is going to be a handful inside.
"Whitley is a dynamic scorer. She didn't see a whole lot of minutes last year because of all those seniors. She is one of the top scorers in this league after hardly seeing much playing time last year. That is a credit to her and all the work she put in. She has really stepped up for them."
Although UAB has dropped eight of its 10 league games thus far, Stoehr knows that the Blazers will be a tough opponent.
"You can look at their scores," said Stoehr. "They have been in almost every one of them. They have been in some close games. I've watched them play a lot in the non-conference and now conference portion of their schedules. The scary thing is they are starting to figure out how this group needs to play. They can really score it. We have to be able to execute on both ends of the floor this weekend."
The Lady Techsters are led by Keiunna Walker (15.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Bre Harris (10.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Anna Larr Roberson (10.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg), Raizel Guinto (9.9 ppg, 34 three-pointers) and Amber Dixon (8.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg). Tech is coming off a two-game split against North Texas that saw both games come down to the final minute.
"This has been a really difficult, long year on all of us," said Stoehr. "February is a tough month regardless of the situation. I think the current circumstances elevate that amount of stress. I thought we competed really hard this past weekend. There was a passion and desire in those huddles.
"Hearing those players talk to each other the way they did, we had some people step up and lead vocally. That was cool to see. This group has had such a small margin for error. Because of the way we have defended and rebounded, we have been in every game with a chance to win late. I was pleased with how we competed. I like their mindset. They are fighting for each other."
Friday's game will be live on CUSA.tv while Saturday's game will be on ESPN+.
When the two teams tip off for Friday's first game, it will be on the 11-month anniversary of the C-USA Tournament being cancelled.
UAB is almost a completely different team than the one that the Lady Techsters upset 66-63 in the opening round of the 2020 Conference USA Tournament last year in Frisco … just 24 hours before the shutdown began.
LA Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr knows her team is in for a battle regardless of the names on the back of the Blazer jersyes.
"It doesn't matter who Coach (Randy) Norton plugs into his lineup," said Stoehr. "They are always going to be extremely well coached. They are going to be super disciplined on the defensive end of the court. They are going to take care of the basketball, and they are going to run good basketball."
Stoehr hopes an unusual trend continues this weekend. The road team has won eight of the previous 10 meetings in this series, including each of the last five.
Home-court advantage simply has not existed when the Techsters and the Blazers play. Tech and UAB will test this basketball hypothesis.
"We need to keep that trend going," said Stoehr. "We have been very good in Bartow."
UAB is led by the inside-outside combination of forward Zakyia Weathersby (13.4 ppg, 12.1 rpg) and guard Margaret Whitely (22.1 ppg, 51 three-pointers). Weathersby is the leading rebounder in C-USA and has recorded 12 double digit rebounding games, including two 20-rebound performances against Middle Tennessee and Charlotte.
Whitley ranks No. 2 in Conference USA in scoring, has 11 20-plus point performances, including a 35-point effort against North Texas and a 34-point explosion against Chattanooga.
"Weathersby is averaging right at 13 points and 12 rebounds a game," said Stoehr. "She is a force inside. She has evolved each year and is having her best year. The interesting thing is she doesn't have those seniors around her this year and she has really stepped up her level of play. Her ability to board it on both ends of the floor is impressive. She is going to be a handful inside.
"Whitley is a dynamic scorer. She didn't see a whole lot of minutes last year because of all those seniors. She is one of the top scorers in this league after hardly seeing much playing time last year. That is a credit to her and all the work she put in. She has really stepped up for them."
Although UAB has dropped eight of its 10 league games thus far, Stoehr knows that the Blazers will be a tough opponent.
"You can look at their scores," said Stoehr. "They have been in almost every one of them. They have been in some close games. I've watched them play a lot in the non-conference and now conference portion of their schedules. The scary thing is they are starting to figure out how this group needs to play. They can really score it. We have to be able to execute on both ends of the floor this weekend."
The Lady Techsters are led by Keiunna Walker (15.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Bre Harris (10.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Anna Larr Roberson (10.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg), Raizel Guinto (9.9 ppg, 34 three-pointers) and Amber Dixon (8.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg). Tech is coming off a two-game split against North Texas that saw both games come down to the final minute.
"This has been a really difficult, long year on all of us," said Stoehr. "February is a tough month regardless of the situation. I think the current circumstances elevate that amount of stress. I thought we competed really hard this past weekend. There was a passion and desire in those huddles.
"Hearing those players talk to each other the way they did, we had some people step up and lead vocally. That was cool to see. This group has had such a small margin for error. Because of the way we have defended and rebounded, we have been in every game with a chance to win late. I was pleased with how we competed. I like their mindset. They are fighting for each other."
Players Mentioned
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