Saturday, January 21
Murfreesboro, TN
1 P.M.
Louisiana Tech University
at
Middle Tennessee
Photo by: Kyle Kavanaugh
Preview: LA Tech at Middle Tennessee
1/20/2023 1:27:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. in Murfreesboro
RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech women's basketball team will wrap up a three-game road stretch in Murfreesboro, Tenn., as they take on Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m. inside Murphy Arena. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on the LA Tech Athletics app.
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 21 | 1 p.m. CT
Location: Murphy Arena (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Radio: KNBB 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats | LA Tech Athletics app
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (11-7, 4-4 C-USA)
Louisiana Tech got all-conference forward Anna Larr Roberson back for Thursday's contest after a six-game absence due to injury but fell at Western Kentucky, 66-55. The Hilltoppers held LA Tech to 35 percent shooting on the night.
Roberson scored eight points and added eight rebounds in her return. She is 18 points away from No. 38 on the all-time scoring list and just two rebounds from reaching 700 for her career.
Fresh off her first Conference USA Player of the Week honor this season, Keiunna Walker scored a game-high 16 in the loss, moving her double figures streak to 12 games. Walker is four points away from moving past Pam Gant for No. 14 on the program's all-time scoring list.
Lotte Sant has hit 20-34 from deep since conference play, shooting 53 percent. Tech had hit six or more threes in six straight games but have failed to do so in their last two road outings at UAB and WKU.
Tech is ranked second in the league in field goal percentage (.454), three-point percentage (.347), and free throw percentage (.777). Tech is also ranked No. 2 in assists (259) and assists per game at 14.4, behind UAB.
Defensively, Tech is just one of two teams in C-USA to hold opponents to under 60 points a game (59.8 PPG); Middle Tennessee is the other. Tech is a perfect 9-0 when holding opponents under 60 this season, and allows just .367 shooting from the field; also good for No. 2 behind Middle Tennessee.
Tech is 6-0 coming off a loss this season.
ABOUT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (15-2, 8-0 C-USA)
Middle Tennessee is one of the hottest teams in the country, carrying the nation's fourth longest winning streak at 13 straight. The Blue Raiders improved to a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play coming into Saturday's matchup fresh off a 65-41 win at Charlotte.
Middle Tennessee's last loss came at the hands of Texas Tech (67-72) in the Las Vegas Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday. The only other blemish on their schedule came in a one-point loss to Mercer (75-76) in their season opener. Their marquee win this season was a 67-49 thumping of No. 18 Louisville in Murfreesboro, where the Blue Raiders sit undefeated at 7-0.
Four players lead the Blue Raiders in double figures, including three C-USA Preseason All-Conference selections in Kseniya Malashka, Savannah Wheeler, and Courtney Whitson.
Malashka, last year's C-USA Sixth Player of the Year, is averaging 16.9 PPG. Wheeler, a transfer from Marshall, earned first-team C-USA honors playing for the Thundering Herd last season. Wheeler is putting up 15.1 points per contest this season.
Whitson (10.5 PPG) was a second-team C-USA selection last season, while Jalynn Gregory (13.4 PPG) earned All-Freshman honors along with 6-6 center Anastasiia Boldyreva.
Middle Tennessee is averaging a league-best 75.6 PPG on .429 shooting, including .332 from three (No. 3) and a league-leading 78.5 percent from the line.
Defensively, the Blue Raiders hold teams to 55.8 PPG on .351 shooting; both of which are tops in the Conference USA.
THE SERIES
Thursday's matchup with be the 16th overall matchup between LA Tech and Middle Tennessee, with the Blue Raiders holding a one-game advantage in the overall series (8-7), in Murfreesboro (3-2), and in neutral site games (2-1).
Tech won the first four matchups of the series, which began in 1982-93, but Middle Tennessee responded by winning six straight from 2013 to 2017. Tech has won three of the last five, including last year's meeting in the Conference USA Tournament Semifinals, in which Tech erased an 11-point fourth-quarter lead to move on to the tournament finals (80-72).
LA Tech outscored the Blue Raiders 34-15 in the final stanza going 8-11 from the field, including two huge threes from Lotte Sant and Amaya Brannon, and made 16 of their 21 free-throw attempts as a team to close the game.
In a series that typically produces lopsided affairs, only two games (the last two) have been decided by less than 11 points (71-77, 80-72).
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Lady Techsters Basketball, follow them on Twitter (@LATechWBB), Instagram (@LATechWBB), and Facebook (LATechWBB).
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 21 | 1 p.m. CT
Location: Murphy Arena (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Radio: KNBB 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats | LA Tech Athletics app
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (11-7, 4-4 C-USA)
Louisiana Tech got all-conference forward Anna Larr Roberson back for Thursday's contest after a six-game absence due to injury but fell at Western Kentucky, 66-55. The Hilltoppers held LA Tech to 35 percent shooting on the night.
Roberson scored eight points and added eight rebounds in her return. She is 18 points away from No. 38 on the all-time scoring list and just two rebounds from reaching 700 for her career.
Fresh off her first Conference USA Player of the Week honor this season, Keiunna Walker scored a game-high 16 in the loss, moving her double figures streak to 12 games. Walker is four points away from moving past Pam Gant for No. 14 on the program's all-time scoring list.
Lotte Sant has hit 20-34 from deep since conference play, shooting 53 percent. Tech had hit six or more threes in six straight games but have failed to do so in their last two road outings at UAB and WKU.
Tech is ranked second in the league in field goal percentage (.454), three-point percentage (.347), and free throw percentage (.777). Tech is also ranked No. 2 in assists (259) and assists per game at 14.4, behind UAB.
Defensively, Tech is just one of two teams in C-USA to hold opponents to under 60 points a game (59.8 PPG); Middle Tennessee is the other. Tech is a perfect 9-0 when holding opponents under 60 this season, and allows just .367 shooting from the field; also good for No. 2 behind Middle Tennessee.
Tech is 6-0 coming off a loss this season.
ABOUT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (15-2, 8-0 C-USA)
Middle Tennessee is one of the hottest teams in the country, carrying the nation's fourth longest winning streak at 13 straight. The Blue Raiders improved to a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play coming into Saturday's matchup fresh off a 65-41 win at Charlotte.
Middle Tennessee's last loss came at the hands of Texas Tech (67-72) in the Las Vegas Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday. The only other blemish on their schedule came in a one-point loss to Mercer (75-76) in their season opener. Their marquee win this season was a 67-49 thumping of No. 18 Louisville in Murfreesboro, where the Blue Raiders sit undefeated at 7-0.
Four players lead the Blue Raiders in double figures, including three C-USA Preseason All-Conference selections in Kseniya Malashka, Savannah Wheeler, and Courtney Whitson.
Malashka, last year's C-USA Sixth Player of the Year, is averaging 16.9 PPG. Wheeler, a transfer from Marshall, earned first-team C-USA honors playing for the Thundering Herd last season. Wheeler is putting up 15.1 points per contest this season.
Whitson (10.5 PPG) was a second-team C-USA selection last season, while Jalynn Gregory (13.4 PPG) earned All-Freshman honors along with 6-6 center Anastasiia Boldyreva.
Middle Tennessee is averaging a league-best 75.6 PPG on .429 shooting, including .332 from three (No. 3) and a league-leading 78.5 percent from the line.
Defensively, the Blue Raiders hold teams to 55.8 PPG on .351 shooting; both of which are tops in the Conference USA.
THE SERIES
Thursday's matchup with be the 16th overall matchup between LA Tech and Middle Tennessee, with the Blue Raiders holding a one-game advantage in the overall series (8-7), in Murfreesboro (3-2), and in neutral site games (2-1).
Tech won the first four matchups of the series, which began in 1982-93, but Middle Tennessee responded by winning six straight from 2013 to 2017. Tech has won three of the last five, including last year's meeting in the Conference USA Tournament Semifinals, in which Tech erased an 11-point fourth-quarter lead to move on to the tournament finals (80-72).
LA Tech outscored the Blue Raiders 34-15 in the final stanza going 8-11 from the field, including two huge threes from Lotte Sant and Amaya Brannon, and made 16 of their 21 free-throw attempts as a team to close the game.
In a series that typically produces lopsided affairs, only two games (the last two) have been decided by less than 11 points (71-77, 80-72).
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Lady Techsters Basketball, follow them on Twitter (@LATechWBB), Instagram (@LATechWBB), and Facebook (LATechWBB).
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