RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech women's basketball team welcomes Charlotte for a New Year's Eve Conference USA matchup on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Saturday, Dec. 31 | 2 p.m. CT
Location: Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.)
TV/Stream: CUSA.tv
Radio: KNBB 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats | LA Tech Athletics app
Tickets: Purchase
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (8-4, 1-1 C-USA)
Lotte Sant hit a career-high five three-pointers to match a career-high 15 points in a road win over UTSA Thursday night in San Antonio, 62-57.
Keiunna Walker (20),
Salma Bates (12), and
Amaya Brannon (10) joined Sant in double figures.
Walker passed Lori Scott on the all-time scoring list and now sits at No. 20. Sant surpassed 100 made three-pointers and is only nine makes away from reaching the career top-10 list.
Mackenzie Wurm made her first career start by going 5-5 from the free throw line and pulling down a season-high five rebounds to help Tech even their conference record at 1-1. Tech will look to reach a 2-1 start to C-USA play for the first time since 2017-18.
Defensively, Tech boasts a top-50 scoring defense in the country, allowing 56.4 ppg, and is No. 30 in the NCAA in defensive field goal percentage at .352.
Tech is averaging 66.5 ppg on .455 shooting, including .316 from three after hitting a season-high eight in Thursday's win. The Techsters are shooting 77 percent from the line this season which ranks No. 2 in C-USA and 32nd nationally.
Silvia Nativi (50 assists) and
Salma Bates (41 assists) have led Tech to the top of the league in APG at 15.3. Nativi's 3.33 A:TO ranks her at No. 4 in the NCAA.
LA Tech is 8-0 this season when holding opponents to under 60 points and 7-1 when reaching the 60-point mark. Tech is also 6-0 when out-rebounding the opposition this season.
ABOUT CHARLOTTE (5-6, 1-1 C-USA)
Charlotte, the reigning Conference USA regular season and tournament champions, are led by 12th-year head coach Cara Consuegra, who took last season's conference Coach of the Year honors.
Charlotte was tested in their non-conference slate playing the likes of No. 10 NC State, Illinois, VCU, Cincinnati, Clemson, Wake Forest, and Davidson while picking up wins over VCU and Cinci.
The 49ers started Conference USA play with an 85-79 home win over UAB before falling to Middle Tennessee on the road Thursday, 71-46.
Jada McMillian and Mikalya Boykin were both selected to the C-USA Preseason All-Conference team. McMillian was a C-USA honorable mention last season, while Boykin picked up Second-Team honors and an All-Tournament selection.
Boykin, a 5-9 guard transfer from Duke, was leading the team at 15.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg but was lost to a season-ending ACL just five games into the 2022-23 season.
McMillian, at 12.8 ppg, is joined in double figures by Dazia Lawrence, a 5-8 redshirt sophomore, at 14.8 ppg. McMillian's 4.4 APG leads C-USA while playing the second-most minutes in the league this season at 35.7 per contest.
Charlotte is averaging 59.5 ppg on .394 shooting while giving up 69.4 ppg on .423 shooting to opponents.
THE SERIES
Saturday's game will mark the 13th meeting between LA Tech and Charlotte, which began in 2013-14, Tech's first year in C-USA. Tech started the series by taking four of the first six, but Charlotte has won five of the last six.
Of the 12 first matchups, four have played out on neutral floors in the conference tournament, including the last meeting in last year's C-USA tournament title game that Charlotte took, 68-63.
In Ruston, the series is tied, 3-3, including Tech's last series win in 2018-19 (88-51). Charlotte has since won four straight heading into Saturday.
Only five matchups have been decided by 10 points or fewer in the series, including both last season: 56-59 and 53-68.
TICKETS
Season and single-game tickets are on sale and can be purchased at
LATechSports.com/Tickets or by calling the LA Tech Ticket Office at (318) 257-3631.
GAMEDAY GUIDE/CLEAR BAG POLICY
Fans are encouraged to read the
Gameday A-Z Guide and review the
Clear Bag Policy for any questions regarding the game day experience. Clear bags are required at all Louisiana Tech athletic events.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Lady Techsters Basketball, follow them on Twitter (@LATechWBB), Instagram (@LATechWBB), and Facebook (LATechWBB).
