11/2/2026 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball
The 2026-27 Basketball season is here
RUSTON | Tonight, the 2026-27 seasons tip off for the Bulldogs and Lady Techsters.
Louisiana Tech hosts Kent State on Monday, November 2, at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+ for the MAC-SBC Challenge, the first game in 100 years of Dunkin' Dog basketball. Across the country, the Lady Techsters open their season on the road at Toledo in the same challenge, tipping off at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Two programs, two cities, one national stage, and one home waiting for both.Â
It's a new era of renewed rivalries for one of the most storied programs in women's basketball history, and a great start to the celebration of 100 years of Bulldog basketball.
Welcome to Year 100
Tonight's tip-off against Kent State begins 100 Years of Dunkin' Dogs, a season-long celebration of everything that has happened inside this program and the people who made it happen.
Fifth-year head coach Talvin Hester returns to the TAC with a nearly new roster: 12 newcomers, with guard Jaylen Fenner the lone returner from last season's 20-win team. The newcomers arrive from programs including Central Missouri, Northeastern State, and Lamar, along with junior college transfers and first-year players. Kent State arrives for the third meeting between the two programs and the first since 1983. Louisiana Tech has won both previous games.
The Lady Techsters Start From the Top
The Lady Techsters come off a 26-win season, their most wins since 2005-06, and the Conference USA regular-season championship, going 17-1 in league play under Brooke Stoehr, who begins her 11th season. Seven players return, including four starters: Jordan Marshall, Alexia Weaver, Hillary Dawson, and Isla Airey.
Marshall was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team and Weaver to the Third Team, and Stoehr is on the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Preseason Watch List, one of 20 coaches named and one of two from the Sun Belt. They open with a first-ever meeting at Toledo, then return to Ruston on Thursday, November 5, for their home debut.
Both programs begin a new chapter together: their first season returning to the Sun Belt Conference.
One House
The Bulldogs and Lady Techsters share the Thomas Assembly Center, with 34 home games between them this season: 18 for the Bulldogs and 16 for the Lady Techsters. The TAC opened in 1982 and has been home to Louisiana Tech basketball ever since, and opponents know it as one of the toughest places in the country to play.
Credit goes to the people who make it that way. The Hoop Troop, Tech Cheer, and the Regal Blues bring the energy to every game, and Blue Bloods pack the Kennel, the student section, from tip-off to the final buzzer.
Built in the Eighties and Nineties
The house was built for big nights. The Lady Techsters grew from a first season in 1974 into national champions in 1981, with an undefeated season and the AIAW title, and then won the first NCAA Division I women's championship in 1982.
They added another NCAA title in 1988 and made a long run of Final Fours through the 1980s and 1990s, with players like Pam Kelly, Janice Lawrence, Kim Mulkey, Teresa Weatherspoon, Venus Lacy, and Vickie Johnson playing for coaches Sonja Hogg and Leon Barmore.
The Bulldogs wrote their own chapter in the same years. The Dunkin' Dogs nickname took off in the early 1980s behind Karl Malone and Willie Simmons; the mid-1980s teams made NCAA Tournament runs including a Sweet Sixteen in 1985, and players like Randy White and P.J. Brown carried the program into the 1990s.
Both programs also called the Sun Belt home from 1991 to 2001, and the Lady Techsters owned the league for most of that decade. Now they're back, and the old rivals are waiting.
Rivalries Renewed
For the Lady Techsters, the schedule revives rivalries from their championship years: Old Dominion visits on January 2, and ULM comes to the TAC on February 3 for the I-20 Showdown Rivalry Series, presented by Radiance Technologies. UL-Lafayette arrives on December 16, the first meeting in five years, and Southern Miss follows on January 28.
Many of the Bulldogs' biggest rivalries go back to the early days of the TAC in the early 1980s: ULM, UL-Lafayette, Arkansas State, Marshall, and more. The Bulldogs open Sun Belt play at Troy on December 16 and host Appalachian State for their first Sun Belt home game on December 19. Marshall visits on January 9, Arkansas State on January 14, ULM on February 13 for the I-20 Showdown, and UL-Lafayette on February 24 to close Year 100.
Circle the Calendar
Every Crew Gets a Night
Belonging at Louisiana Tech starts with the people you show up with, and basketball gives student organizations a night of their own. SGA takes the spotlight on November 5, followed by Kappa Delta on November 12, Sigma Kappa on November 17, Delta Delta Delta on December 16, Union Board on January 14 (Champ Night), Phi Mu on January 21, and Alpha Chi Omega on February 17.
Each night features and recognizes the organization as the TAC welcomes its members, friends, families, and alumni to the game. The spotlight changes every few weeks, and the community around the building grows with it.
Find Your Seat
Basketball at Louisiana Tech works the same way for everyone: you walk into the TAC, find your people, and make it louder. Students, alumni, season-ticket families, kids at their first game, and anyone who's been coming since the first Dunkin' Dogs era all have a place in this house.
The next chapter starts tonight. Be there for the first one: Basketball Ticket Central
One House.
Every Rival.
One More Night.Â
Louisiana Tech hosts Kent State on Monday, November 2, at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+ for the MAC-SBC Challenge, the first game in 100 years of Dunkin' Dog basketball. Across the country, the Lady Techsters open their season on the road at Toledo in the same challenge, tipping off at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Two programs, two cities, one national stage, and one home waiting for both.Â
It's a new era of renewed rivalries for one of the most storied programs in women's basketball history, and a great start to the celebration of 100 years of Bulldog basketball.
Welcome to Year 100
Tonight's tip-off against Kent State begins 100 Years of Dunkin' Dogs, a season-long celebration of everything that has happened inside this program and the people who made it happen.
Fifth-year head coach Talvin Hester returns to the TAC with a nearly new roster: 12 newcomers, with guard Jaylen Fenner the lone returner from last season's 20-win team. The newcomers arrive from programs including Central Missouri, Northeastern State, and Lamar, along with junior college transfers and first-year players. Kent State arrives for the third meeting between the two programs and the first since 1983. Louisiana Tech has won both previous games.
The Lady Techsters Start From the Top
The Lady Techsters come off a 26-win season, their most wins since 2005-06, and the Conference USA regular-season championship, going 17-1 in league play under Brooke Stoehr, who begins her 11th season. Seven players return, including four starters: Jordan Marshall, Alexia Weaver, Hillary Dawson, and Isla Airey.
Marshall was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team and Weaver to the Third Team, and Stoehr is on the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Preseason Watch List, one of 20 coaches named and one of two from the Sun Belt. They open with a first-ever meeting at Toledo, then return to Ruston on Thursday, November 5, for their home debut.
Both programs begin a new chapter together: their first season returning to the Sun Belt Conference.
One House
The Bulldogs and Lady Techsters share the Thomas Assembly Center, with 34 home games between them this season: 18 for the Bulldogs and 16 for the Lady Techsters. The TAC opened in 1982 and has been home to Louisiana Tech basketball ever since, and opponents know it as one of the toughest places in the country to play.
Credit goes to the people who make it that way. The Hoop Troop, Tech Cheer, and the Regal Blues bring the energy to every game, and Blue Bloods pack the Kennel, the student section, from tip-off to the final buzzer.
Built in the Eighties and Nineties
The house was built for big nights. The Lady Techsters grew from a first season in 1974 into national champions in 1981, with an undefeated season and the AIAW title, and then won the first NCAA Division I women's championship in 1982.
They added another NCAA title in 1988 and made a long run of Final Fours through the 1980s and 1990s, with players like Pam Kelly, Janice Lawrence, Kim Mulkey, Teresa Weatherspoon, Venus Lacy, and Vickie Johnson playing for coaches Sonja Hogg and Leon Barmore.
The Bulldogs wrote their own chapter in the same years. The Dunkin' Dogs nickname took off in the early 1980s behind Karl Malone and Willie Simmons; the mid-1980s teams made NCAA Tournament runs including a Sweet Sixteen in 1985, and players like Randy White and P.J. Brown carried the program into the 1990s.
Both programs also called the Sun Belt home from 1991 to 2001, and the Lady Techsters owned the league for most of that decade. Now they're back, and the old rivals are waiting.
Rivalries Renewed
For the Lady Techsters, the schedule revives rivalries from their championship years: Old Dominion visits on January 2, and ULM comes to the TAC on February 3 for the I-20 Showdown Rivalry Series, presented by Radiance Technologies. UL-Lafayette arrives on December 16, the first meeting in five years, and Southern Miss follows on January 28.
Many of the Bulldogs' biggest rivalries go back to the early days of the TAC in the early 1980s: ULM, UL-Lafayette, Arkansas State, Marshall, and more. The Bulldogs open Sun Belt play at Troy on December 16 and host Appalachian State for their first Sun Belt home game on December 19. Marshall visits on January 9, Arkansas State on January 14, ULM on February 13 for the I-20 Showdown, and UL-Lafayette on February 24 to close Year 100.
Circle the Calendar
- Monday, November 2:Â Tip-off of Year 100. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and fans get a Blue Bark Louder towel while supplies last.
- Thursday, November 5: Lady Techsters home debut at 11 a.m. as an Education Game for area schools, followed by the Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m. The Amazing Tyler performs at halftime of both games – a full day at the TAC.
- Monday, December 7:Â Lady Techsters host Memphis for Military and Service Appreciation and a Red Out, presented by Origin Bank.
- Saturday, December 19:Â Bulldogs host Appalachian State in their first Sun Belt home game.
- December 21 and 22:Â The Christmas Takeover, with Santa, an ornament and Santa hat giveaway, and Ugly Sweater Night on the 22nd.
- Saturday, January 9:Â 100 Years of Dunkin' Dogs: Legends Night against Marshall, presented by Origin Bank, with the Bulldogs debuting a new royal blue uniform set.
- January 28 and 30:Â Southern Miss visits for a Bulldogs and Lady Techsters doubleheader during Suits and Sneakers Week, with Ohiole Dibua performing at halftime of both games. Two nights later, both teams host a Double White Out, with frisbee dogs on the court at halftime of both games.
- February 3 and 13:Â The I-20 Showdown Rivalry Series against ULM, presented by Radiance Technologies. Lady Techsters host on Wednesday, February 3 (with a Pink Out), and the Bulldogs follow on Saturday, February 13.
- Wednesday, February 24:Â Bulldogs close Year 100 at home against UL-Lafayette.
Every Crew Gets a Night
Belonging at Louisiana Tech starts with the people you show up with, and basketball gives student organizations a night of their own. SGA takes the spotlight on November 5, followed by Kappa Delta on November 12, Sigma Kappa on November 17, Delta Delta Delta on December 16, Union Board on January 14 (Champ Night), Phi Mu on January 21, and Alpha Chi Omega on February 17.
Each night features and recognizes the organization as the TAC welcomes its members, friends, families, and alumni to the game. The spotlight changes every few weeks, and the community around the building grows with it.
Find Your Seat
Basketball at Louisiana Tech works the same way for everyone: you walk into the TAC, find your people, and make it louder. Students, alumni, season-ticket families, kids at their first game, and anyone who's been coming since the first Dunkin' Dogs era all have a place in this house.
The next chapter starts tonight. Be there for the first one: Basketball Ticket Central
One House.
Every Rival.
One More Night.Â
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballMonday, September 21
Saturday, March 14
Friday, March 13
Friday, March 13
