FRISCO, Texas – Louisiana Tech heads to Frisco, Texas as the No. 1 seed out of the West for the Conference USA Tournament. The Techsters face No. 5 seed UAB in the Quarterfinal round Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT on Court A at the Ford Center at The Star.
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Thursday, Mar. 10 | 1:30 p.m. CT
Location: Ford Center at The Star (Frisco, Texas)
TV/Stream: Stadium (
HERE)
Radio: 97.7 FM | LA Tech Sports Network (
HERE)
Stats: LATechSports.com (
HERE)
ABOUT EAST NO. 1 SEED LOUISIANA TECH (19-10, 11-7 C-USA)
Louisiana Tech won their first conference title since 2011 last Saturday with a win over UAB at home (82-56) to clinch C-USA's West Division crown earning a No. 1 seed in this week's tournament.
Tech won their last four games of the regular season as a part of an 11-3 finish to the regular season after an 0-4 conference start to earn the No. 1 seed and a double-bye in this week's championships. The Techsters are 6-7 all-time in the conference USA tournament and are making their fifth quarterfinal appearance.
Tech is led by All-Conference USA members
Keiunna Walker and
Anna Larr Roberson. Walker was named to the conference first-team after averaging 18.3 ppg this season scoring in double figures 28 of 29 games this season.
Roberson was named to the conference second-team after averaging 15.3 ppg and 8.5 rpg while posting eight double-doubles. She ranked second in the conference in rebounds, double-doubles, and free-throw percentage (.860) and highlighted her season with a career-high 44 points against Rice on a program record-tying 20 made field goals.
Tech has received solid contributions from
Salma Bates,
Amaya Brannon, and
Robyn Lee over the four-game win streak.
In Bates' last four games, the point guard has posted 16 assists to just six turnovers, while Brannon has averaged seven rebounds over the last three contests, and Lee has scored in double figures in each of the last two games fueling a 75-point per game average for the Techsters while shooting over 45 percent from the field.
ABOUT WEST NO. 5 SEED UAB (16-14, 8-10 C-USA)
UAB took care of the No. 3 seed from the East, Western Kentucky (74-62), and have now won three of their last five games.
In the opening round win, the Blazers used a balanced attack with four players in double figures. Kylee Schneringer led the way with 17 points while Margaret Whitley had 16, Destinee McGhee added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Zakyia Weathersby chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Blazers, who finished the regular season as the No. 5 offense in the league (67.1 ppg), shot 51.8 percent for the game including 7-16 threes (.438).
Weathersby averaged a double-double for the season with 14.8 ppg and 11.3 rpg. She led C-USA in rebounds and field-goal percentage (.558) and is also ranked No. 2 in blocks per game (2.0) and was named first-team all-conference.
Defensively, the Blazers give up 62.4 ppg on 37.3 percent shooting and they rank second-best rebounding team in the league pulling down 41.7 boards per game.
THE SERIES
Louisiana Tech and UAB meet for the 16th time in women's basketball as the Lady Techsters lead the all-time series 9-6.
The road teams have dominated this series as LA Tech is just 2-5 all-time in games played in Ruston while posting a 6-1 record in Birmingham.
The Techsters swept UAB in Birmingham this season (58-52, 82-56) including the West title-clinching game last Saturday in Ruston. Tech and UAB have met once before on a neutral floor with Tech taking the contest 66-63 back in 2020.
Eight of the 15 matchups have been decided by ten points or less.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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