RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech women's basketball team continues a three-game road stretch in Bowling Green, Ky., to face Western Kentucky on Thursday, Jan. 19, at 6:30 p.m. inside E.A. Diddle Arena. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on the LA Tech Athletics app.
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Thursday, Jan. 19 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Location: E.A. Diddle Arena (Bowling Green, Ky.)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Radio: KNBB 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats | LA Tech Athletics app
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (11-6, 4-3 C-USA)
Louisiana Tech moved above .500 in conference play and into fourth place in the standings, picking up two wins last week over North Texas (81-66) and at UAB (61-55). Tech held the league-leading Blazers to 22 points under their scoring average in the win and moved to 9-0 this season when holding opponents to under 60 points. Tech also outrebounded the Blazers (45-42), improving to 7-0 when outrebounding the opposition.
Keiunna Walker was named Conference USA Player of the Week for her efforts, averaging 24.5 PPG in the two wins, including tying a season-high with 26 at UAB, which included a 13-16 day at the free throw line.
Walker has been one of the best in the country at getting to the line this season, ranking no. 10 in the NCAA in free throw makes (94) and No. 12 in attempts (120). She has scored 20 or more in four straight outings, including five of her last six, and moved ahead of Elinor Griffin for No. 15 on the program's all-time scoring list.
Robyn Lee was also big last week, reaching double figures in both games (16, 12), shooting a combined 12-16 from the floor and hitting 5-6 from the line while adding three assists against North Texas and a season-high seven rebounds at UAB.
Mackenzie Wurm added a career-high five blocks in the win over UAB and ranked No. 2 in C-USA in blocks (26) and blocks per game (1.62), which puts her just outside the top 50 nationally. Her five blocks are the most for a Techster in a single game since Kevione Moten in 2014.
As a team, Tech is shooting 45.9 percent (tied for first in C-USA) from the floor this season and rank No. 2 in the league in three-point (.357) and free throw (.770) percentage. Tech also leads the league in assists per game at 14.7.
Defensively, the Techsters are among the league leaders in scoring defense, at 59.4 per contest, and are holding teams to 36.4 percent shooting. Both rank second in the conference.
Tech has been productive in the paint this season, averaging 30.4 PPG, and is getting over 20 points a contest from their bench (21.4 PPG). The LA Tech bench has scored in double figures in all but two games this season and has reached 20 or more in 10 games.
ABOUT WKU (8-8, 5-2 C-USA)
Struggling to replace last season's all-conference player Meral Abdelgawad, Western Kentucky dropped five of their first six non-conference games to open the season but has caught fire lately. The Hilltoppers hold the conference's second-longest winning streak at four to move into third in the C-USA standings at 5-2.
WKU holds a 4-3 mark at home this season. Their last home loss came at the hands of Middle Tennessee (75-80) after grabbing an early lead in the contest.
WKU is led by this week's Conference USA Freshman of the Week, Acacia Hayes, a 5-8 guard out of Murfreesboro, Tenn., who is the lone Hilltopper in double figures at 10.9 PPG. Hayes is shooting over 50 percent from the floor (.508) and 40 percent from three (.444) while knocking down 72 percent of her attempt at the line.
Jaylin Foster is just shy of double-digit scoring at 9.7 PPG. She leads the team in rebounding (5.8 RPG) and has totaled a team-best 34 steals.
2021-22 C-USA Freshman of the Year, Mya Meredith is back for her sophomore campaign in Bowling Green, averaging 8.4 PPG and 5.1 RPG, while fellow all-freshman Alexis Mead contributes 8.5 PPG and a team-leading 44 assists.
WKU is averaging 68.8 PPG on .386 shooting (.294 from three) while giving up 67.8 PPG on .445 shooting (.305 from three). They lead the league in steals per game (12) and are top-three in offensive rebounds per contest at 13.5.
The Hilltoppers were selected sixth in the C-USA preseason poll.
THE SERIES
Thursday's matchup with be the 52nd overall matchup between LA Tech and Western Kentucky. Tech leads the all-time series 27-24, but WKU has taken 11 of the last 12 meetings. The Hilltoppers hold a 15-9 advantage in Bowling Green.
Beginning in 1983-84, this is longest standing series among current C-USA mates and one of the more storied series in program history.
Tech and WKU were once conference mates in the Sun Belt from 1991-2001, where the two teams faced off 29 times, including eight conference tournament title games, with Tech winning five.
Tech's longest streak is 11 wins, from 1997-2002, while WKU enjoyed ten straight over ten years from 2011-2021.
The Techsters and Hilltoppers have split the last two meetings, with Tech taking one in Ruston in 2020-21 and WKU winning the 2022 New Year's Day matchup the previous season.
The only game to reach an overtime period was in Bowling Green in the Sun Belt Tournament, with WKU prevailing 72-66. Only one game has ever reached the 100-point mark as well, with Tech doing so in 2000-01, winning 105-47 in the biggest blowout of the series.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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