RUSTON – Louisiana Tech is riding a five-game winning streak heading into a Wednesday night showdown at the Thomas Assembly Center with reigning Conference USA champions Middle Tennessee.
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Wednesday, Jan. 10 | 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.)
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Lyn Rollins (PxP), Victor Howell (Analyst)
Radio: KNBB 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Talent: Kyle Roberts
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (7-9, 1-0)
Louisiana Tech celebrated the 50th season of Lady Techster basketball by picking up a 66-62 win over Sam Houston on Saturday afternoon in the TAC. Tech became the fifth NCAA women's basketball program with 1,200 wins.
Robyn Lee led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds. Amaya Brannon (11), Anna Larr Roberson (10), and Paris Guillory (10) scored in double figures for the Lady Techsters.
Guillory was named Conference USA Freshman of the Week, giving LA Tech a second straight winner after Jianna Morris won the award the previous week. Guillory finished 4-9 from the field and gave Tech a spark off the bench in a 17-3 run to close out the third quarter, including an 8-0 run by herself to give the Lady Techsters the lead for good.
Bates continues to be one of the top players in the conference in several statistical categories. She leads the league in steals (30) and three-point attempts (115). Her 32 three-pointers, 2.0 three-pointers per game, 27.8 three-point percentage, and 1.88 steals per game rank in the top-5 in CUSA.
Roberson and Bates are the only Lady Techsters to be averaging double figures. Roberson leads the team with 11.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. She has scored double figures in eight of the last 10 games for Tech.
Bates is right behind with an 11.5 and 2.9 average. She had her streak of four straight double-figure scoring games snapped against Sam Houston but has scored at least nine points in every game except for one this season.
ABOUT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (10-4, 0-0)
Middle Tennessee started the season with four straight wins before losing back-to-back games to Princeton (65-60) and Michigan (63-49). They have won eight of their last 10, including their first win over instate rival Tennessee 73-62.
The Blue Raiders are the defending CUSA champions and garnered all nine first-place votes in the preseason poll. Rick Insell is in his 19th season in Murfreesboro and has a .741 winning percentage and 443 wins at Middle Tennessee.
The Blue Raiders have four players averaging double figures, led by preseason CUSA Player of the Year Savannah Wheeler at 16.1 points per game. She is coming off three straight performances of 20 or more points, including a season-high 34 points against Northern Kentucky. Wheeler contributes 5.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
Center Anastasiia Boldyreva is one of the top rim protectors in the country. She is fifth in the nation with 3.14 blocks per game and seventh with 44 blocks. She has 11 games with four or more blocks in her career, with a career-high seven against Tennessee earlier this season. Boldyreva leads 7.7 rebounds per game and adds 13.4 points while shooting a conference-best 53.5 percent from the field.
Middle Tennessee is one of the top defensive teams in CUSA and the nation. The Blue Raiders lead the conference in blocks per game (4.7, 34th nationally), FG percentage defense (36.5, 48th nationally), scoring defense (57.5, 61st nationally), and scoring margin (11.2, 77th nationally).
THE SERIES
Middle Tennessee holds a 10-8 record in the series. Last season, Tech fell to Middle 61-59 when Kseniya Malashka hit a turn-around jumper with three seconds remaining. The Lady Techsters last beat the Blue Raiders in the 2021-22 CUSA Tournament, and the last win in Ruston was during the 2019-20 season.
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