RUSTON - Despite winning 27 straight contests and ranking No. 6 in the nation in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls, the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters found themselves slighted once again by the NCAA Selection Committee Sunday evening, receiving a No. 5 seed in the West Region.
Tech will host the first- and second-rounds at the Thomas Assembly Center March 23 and 25 as the Lady Techsters will face the West Coast Conference champion and No. 12 seed Pepperdine (22-7) in their first round contest. Fourth-seeded Ohio State (21-9) will play No. 13 seed Weber State (21-8) out of the Big Sky Conference in the second game in Ruston.
Times for the contests have not yet been released.
For the second straight year Tech receives a No. 5 seed despite ranking in the top 10 in the country; however, Lady Techster head coach Kurt Budke took the news in stride.
"Obviously, we felt like we deserved a higher seed and did everything possible to earn a higher seed," Budke said. "However, we are still playing at home and are playing some of our best basketball of the year right now. There are three excellent teams coming into Ruston and there should be some great games."
Pepperdine won the West Coast Conference Tournament and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA's by defeating Santa Clara 59-57 March 9 in the championship game of the league. The Waves posted impressive wins over Wisconsin, Oklahoma State and UCLA while falling to Top 25 opponents Arizona, Connecticut and Stanford.
Tickets are still available for the first- and second-rounds in Ruston by calling the Tech Ticket Office at 257-3631.
TEAM: Louisiana Tech
NICKNAME: Lady Techsters
COLORS: Blue and Red
CONFERENCE: Western Athletic
COACH: Kurt Budke
2002-03 RECORD: 29-2
W/L STEAK: W27
WEST REGIONAL SEED:5th
SCORING LEADER: Cheryl Ford, 15.5 ppg (C, Sr., 6-3, Summerfield, La.)
REBOUNDING LEADER: Cheryl Ford, 12.8 rpg (C, Sr., 6-3, Summerfield, La.)
ASSISTS LEADER: Amber Obaze, 3.42 apg (G, Jr., 5-9, Dallas, Texas)
STEALS LEADER: Erica Smith 2.2 spg (G, So., 5-10, Wheatley, Ark.)
BLOCKS LEADER: Cheryl Ford, 1.9 bpg (C, Sr., 6-3, Summerfield, La.)
SEASON RESULTS
11/12 W, vs. Texas Tech, 85-76
11/23 L, at Western Kentucky, 57-71
11/25 W, at Arkansas State, 72-54
12/4 L, vs. Tennessee, 35-60
12/7 W, at Tulane, 68-53
12/9 W, vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, 81-50
12/14 W, vs. Nicholls State, 93-50
12/16 W, vs. Stephen F. Austin, 80-44
12/21 W, at New Mexico, 67-54
1/4 W, at SMU, 74-64 *
1/9 W, vs. San Jose State, 83-38 *
1/11 W, vs. Hawaii, 60-52 *
1/16 W, at Nevada, 83-54 *
1/18 W, at Fresno State, 63-53 *
1/23 W, vs. Tulsa, 75-62 *
1/25 W, vs. Rice, 79-65 *
1/27 W, vs. Centenary, 97-47
1/30 W, at Boise State, 102-66 *
2/1 W, at Texas-El Paso, 68-53 *
2/6 W, at Hawaii, 67-44 *
2/8 W, at San Jose State, 66-59 *
2/13 W, vs. Fresno State, 87-62 *
2/15 W, vs. Nevada, 79-67 *
2/20 W, at Rice, 80-63 *
2/22 W, at Tulsa, 85-66 *
2/27 W, vs. Texas-El Paso, 108-54 *
3/1 W, vs. Boise State, 80-55 *
3/6 W, vs. SMU, 89-56 *
3/12 W, vs. Boise State $
3/14 W, vs. Hawaii, 85-58 $
3/15, W, vs. Fresno State, 89-57 $
* - WAC Conference Game
& - WAC Tournament Game
TEAM: Pepperdine
NICKNAME: Waves
COLORS: Blue, White & Orange
CONFERENCE: West Coast Conference
COACH: Mark Trakh
2002-03 RECORD: 22-7
W/L STEAK: W2
WEST REGIONAL SEED:12th
SCORING LEADER: Nicole Funn 9.9 ppg (F, Jr., 6-0, Carson, Cal.)
Shanell Law, 9.9 ppg (G, So., 5-9, Los Angeles, Cal.)
REBOUNDING LEADER: Keani Christianson, 5.3 rpg (F, Sr., 6-2, Eugene, Or.)
ASSISTS LEADER: Tamara McDonald, 2.2 apg (G, Jr., 5-9, Dallas, Texas)
STEALS LEADER: Shannel Law 2.2 spg (G, So., 5-9, Los Angeles, Cal.)
BLOCKS LEADER: Tamara McDonald 0.8 bpg (G, Jr., 5-9, Dallas, Texas)
SEASON RESULTS
11/22 L, vs. Xavier, 54-62
11/25 L, vs. Arizona, 68-80
11/29, W, vs. St. John's, 89-60
11/30, W, vs. Wisconsin, 76-67 OT
12/4 L, vs. USC, 63-64
12/7 W, at Oklahoma State, 67-64
12/14 W, vs. UCLA, 88-67
12/16 W, vs. Cal.-State Northridge, 92-49
12/20 L at Connecticut, 48-109
12/28 W, vs. Quinnipiac, 101-60
12/29 W, vs. Toledo, 64-58
1/3 W, at Portland State, 79-65
1/5 W, at Stanford, 58-91
1/10 W, vs. Gonzaga, 78-63 *
1/11 W, vs. Portland, 88-54 *
1/16 W, at Santa Clara, 71-65
1/18 W, at San Diego, 69-45
1/25 W, at Loyola-Marymount, 51-46 OT
1/31 L, vs. San Francisco, 61-71 *
2/1 W, vs. Saint Mary's 78-57 *
2/6 W, at Portland, 77-60 *
2/8 W, at Gonzaga, 66-60 *
2/14 W, vs. San Diego, 90-52 *
2/15 W, vs. Santa Clara, 66-64 *
2/22 W, vs. Loyola-Marymount, 76-63 *
2/28 W, at Saint Mary's, 89-74 *
3/1 W, at San Francisco, 61-69 *
3/8 W, vs. San Diego, 62-53 &
3/9 W, vs. Santa Clara, 59-57 &
* - West Coast Conference Game
& - West Coast Conference Tournament Game
TEAM: Ohio State
NICKNAME: Buckeyes
COLORS: Scarlett and Gray
CONFERENCE: Big 10
COACH: Jim Foster
2002-03 RECORD: 21-9
W/L STEAK: L1
WEST REGIONAL SEED:4th
SCORING LEADER: Caity Matter, 15.6 ppg (G, So., 5-8, Bluffton, Oh.)
REBOUNDING LEADER: Courtney Coleman, 6.5 rpg (F, Sr., 6-1, Cincinnati, Oh.)
ASSISTS LEADER: Kim Wilburn, 5.2 apg (G, Fr., 5-6, Southfield, Mi.)
STEALS LEADER: Kim Wilburn, 2.7 spg (G, Fr., 5-6, Southfield, Mi.)
BLOCKS LEADER: LaToya Turner, 1.7 bpg (F/C, Jr., 6-3, Pickering, Oh.)
SEASON RESULTS
11/22 W, at Duquesne, 88-48
11/16 W, vs. Wayne State, 100-57
11/29 L, vs. Villanova, 51-58
11/30 W, vs. Hartford, 77-49
12/07 L, Wisconsin-Green Bay, 64-74
12/13 W, at Ohio, 64-36
12/15 W, vs. Arizona, 84-65
12/18 W, vs. Virginia, 73-60
12/20 W, vs. Youngstown State, 76-45
12/29 W, vs. Austin Peay, 76-60
12/31 W, vs. Northwestern, 82-49, *
1/5 W, vs. Texas, 70-66
1/9 W, vs. Michigan State, 70-5 *
1/12 L, at Indiana, 50-54 *
1/16 W, at Wisconsin, 57-42 *
1/19 W, at Northwestern, 63-42 *
1/23 W, vs. Illinois, 82-74 *
1/26 W, vs. Iowa, 74-59 *
1/30 L, at Penn State, 53-68 *
2/2 L, at Purdue, 62-67 *
2/6 W, vs. Minnesota, 66-58 *
2/9 W, vs. Wisconsin, 63-40 *
2/13 L, at Michigan State, 64-65 *
2/16 L, at Minnesota, 50-73 *
2/19 L, at Illinois, 54-58 *
2/23 W, vs. Purdue, 56-51
2/27 W, vs. Michigan, 70-55
3/7 W, vs. Michigan State, 71-55 &
3/9 W, vs. Penn State, 72-61 &
3/10 L, vs. Purdue 65-67 &
* - Big Ten Conference Game
& - Big Ten Tournament Game
TEAM: Weber State
NICKNAME: Wildcats
COLORS: Purple and White
CONFERENCE: Big Sky Conference
COACH: Carla Taylor
2002-03 RECORD: 21-8
W/L STEAK: W3
WEST REGIONAL SEED:13th
SCORING LEADER: Julie Gjertsen, 16.2 ppg (G, So., 5-10, Arvada, Co.)
REBOUND LEADER: Crystal Howe, 9.6 rpg (F/C, Jr., 6-0, Roy, UT)
ASSISTS LEADER: Karsen Muller, 5.6 apg (G, Sr., 5-6, Littleton, Co.)
STEALS LEADER: Karsen Muller, 1.1 spg (G, Sr., 5-6, Littleton, Co.)
BLOCKS LEADER: Crystal Howe, 0.4 bpg (F/C, Jr., 6-0, Roy, UT)
SEASON RESULTS
11/22 W, vs. Idaho, 78-64
11/25 L, vs. Boise State, 60-61
11/30 L, at Brigham Young, 41-51
12/6 W, vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 56-59
12/7 L, at Kansas State, 36-60
12/14 W, vs. New Mexico State, 87-64
12/19 W, vs. Portland, 79-53
12/21 W, at Gonzaga, 52-49
12/28 W, at Wyoming, 65-63
12/30 W, at Air Force, 60-46
1/4 W, vs. Utah, 70-59
1/7 L, at North Texas, 65-66
1/11 L, at New Mexico, 57-70
1/16 L, at Montana State, 44-48 *
1/18 W, at Montana, 58-53 *
1/23 W, vs. Northern Arizona, 86-54 *
1/25 W, vs. Sacremento State, 76-51 *
1/30 W, at Portland State, 61-43 *
2/1 W, at Eastern Washington, 64-61 *
2/8 W, vs. Idaho State, 80-49 *
2/13 W, vs. Montana, 74-65 OT *
2/15 W, vs. Montana State, 66-49 *
2/20 W, at Sacremento State, 76-51 *
2/22 L, at Northern Arizona, 65-68 *
2/27 W, vs. Eastern Washington, 68-62 *
3/1 L, vs. Portland State, 59-62 *
3/8 W, at Idaho State, 72-69 *
3/14 W, vs. Eastern Washington, 64-55 &
3/15 W, vs. Montana State, 63-52 &
* - Big Sky Conference Game
& - Big Sky Conference Tournament