LOUISIANA TECH EARNS NO. 5 SEED IN NCAA TOURNAMENT After capturing its third-straight WAC Tournament title, the Louisiana Tech women's basketball team earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Techsters will hit the road and face host-school Montana in Missoula, Mont. on Saturday, March 20. The other two teams are No. 4 seed Texas Tech and Maine. This is the second-straight season that Louisiana Tech has entered the tournament with a No. 6 national ranking and a No. 5 seed in the tournament. Last season, Louisiana Tech defeated Texas Tech to start the year.
Tennessee tops the bracket with the overall No. 1 seed after winning its seventh consecutive regular-season SEC title. Duke, Penn State and Texas round out the remaining No. 1 seeds. Louisiana Tech has already defeated Penn State once this year
Louisiana Tech and Tennessee continued their appearance streaks as both have participated in all 23 Division I Women's Basketball Championships. Conversely, five teams are making their first trip to the tournament this year: Colgate, Eastern Michigan, Lipscomb, Loyola Marymount and Marist.
The game with Montana will feature two of the hottest teams in the country as Louisiana Tech boasts a 19-game winning streak with its last loss coming Jan. 5 at Rice while Montana has won 17 straight contests with its last setback coming Jan. 6 at Colorado State.
MIDEAST REGIONAL
1. Duke
2. Kansas State
3. Boston College
4. Texas Tech
5. Louisiana Tech
6. Ohio State
7. Minnesota
8. Old Dominion
9. Marquette
10. UCLA
11. West Virginia
12. Montana
13. Maine
14. Eastern Michigan
15. Valparaiso
16. Northwestern State
LOUISIANA TECH WINS THIRD-STRAIGHT WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE The top-seeded and sixth ranked Louisiana Tech brought home their third WAC title in as many seasons, defeating the Rice Lady Owls, 76-52, at the 2004 McCaffrey WAC Basketball Tournament in Fresno, Calif. After a first-half 29-23 lead, Louisiana Tech pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Owls, 47-29. The Techsters were led by both Erica Smith-Taylor who registered 22 points, and the tournament's MVP, Amisha Carter, who tallied 18 points and 16 rebounds en route to the title.
LOUISIANA TECH CAPTURES THIRD WAC TITLE With solid wins over Rice and Tulsa at home, Louisiana Tech captured its third-straight WAC title. This season was the tightest race for the Lady Techsters since joining the WAC in 2001-02. Rice ended the regular season with a 16-2 league record with the losses coming against Louisiana Tech and UTEP. Third place Tulsa set a school record by winning 18 regular season games. Louisiana Tech has won 12-straight conference titles, dating back to its days in the Sun Belt Conference. The Lady Techsters' have won 160-straight games at home against unranked opponents.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC owns an all-time record of 70-35 (.667) in NCAA Tournament games. The 10 teams from the 2002-03 season own an 13-22 record (.371) as WAC members. Louisiana Tech is 64-20(.762) in NCAA play.
THE WAC IN THE WNIT The WAC owns an all-time record of 15-16 (.484) in WNIT games. The 10 teams currently in the WAC own an 13-10 (.565) record in WNIT games, 9-8 (.529) as WAC members. In 2000-01, Hawaii advanced to the semifinals of the WNIT, falling to New Mexico. Last season, both Hawaii and Rice fell in the first round.
TULSA AND RICE ADVANCE TO WNIT Tulsa and Rice were chosen as part of the 32-team field for the 2004 Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). Tulsa will travel to Memphis. Rice will play at Arkansas State in the first round.
Tulsa will make its first ever postseason appearance when the Golden Hurricane faces the Memphis Tigers in the first round at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 18 at Elma Roane Fieldhouse in Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis is 20-9 overall this season and 11-3 at home. The Tigers posted a 9-5 league record, which was good enough for a sixth place finish in Conference USA. Memphis fell to Louisville in the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals.
Tulsa has posted a 19-11 overall record this season and registered a third place WAC finish with an 11-7 mark. The Golden Hurricane advanced to the WAC Tournament semifinals before falling to tournament runner-up Rice.
This is the second WNIT postseason tournament for the Lady Owls in three years, as Rice played at Houston in 2002. Rice will face Arkansas State on March 18 at 7:05 p.m.
Arkansas State is 19-9 on the year, and returning to the WNIT for the first time in four years.
NCAA FIRST ROUND Louisiana Tech has a 9-2 record against the remaining schools in the Montana first and second round bracket. The Lady Techsters are 9-2 against Texas Tech and have not played Maine. Louisiana Tech defeated the Red Raiders last season.
The Grizzlies ran through the Big Sky Conference, posting a perfect 14-0 mark in the regular season and then winning the league's conference tournament title with a 66-62 win over Idaho State Saturday. The only Top 25 team Montana has played this year is Texas, who defeated the Grizzlies 85-46 on Nov. 30 in the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic.
Montana is led offensively by 6-foot-3-inch center Hollie Tyler (13.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg), 5-foot-10-inch senior forward Julie Deming (13.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and 5-foot-9-inch sophomore guard Katie Edwards (10.3 ppg, 3.0 apg).
The Lady Techsters are 1-0 against Montana defeating them during the 1991-92 season.
WNIT FIRST ROUND Arkansas State will be Rice's first round opponent. The Lady Indians are currently 19-9, winning a share of the regular Sun Belt East Division crown. Arkansas State will host its first postseason game since the 1998-1999 season. This is the first meeting between the Lady Indians and the Lady Owls.
Memphis enters postseason with a 20-9 record, breaking a two-year losing streak against St. Louis on Feb. 20, giving head coach Joye Lee-McNelis her sixth 20-win season in her 13-year tenure. The Lady Tigers lost to Louisville in the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament. Memphis is 10-3 at home this season. All three losses were to teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, Vanderbilt, TCU and Houston. This is the first-ever meeting between Tulsa and Memphis. Tulsa is 1-0 against teams from Conference USA this season. On Dec. 5, the Hurricane downed UAB, 80-70, at the Unilever Tiger Tournament in Columbia, Mo.
TULSA MAKES FIRST POSTSEASON APPEARANCE Tulsa will make its first-ever postseason appearance this year in the WNIT. TU will play its the first postseason game in school history on Thursday, March 18 against Memphis. The postseason bid comes eight seasons after the program's resurrection. Previously, Tulsa fielded a women's basketball team from 1976 to 1987, but the program was eliminated at the conclusion of the 1986-87 campaign. The Golden Hurricane are 19-11 this season, setting the record for wins in a season.
ON THE TUBE For the second-straight season, all 63 games from the 2004 NCAA Women's Championship will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN FULL COURT, starting on Saturday, March 20. During the first two rounds, ESPN and ESPN2 will present the 48 games within 16 telecast windows, while ESPN FULL COURT will offer complete game telecasts of all 48 games. All games from the regional semifinals to the championship game will all be telecast ESPN or ESPN2. The announcers for the Louisiana Tech game against Montana will be Cara Capuano and Jimmy Dykes.
RECORDS SET Several records were broken at this year's McCaffrey WAC Tournament. Tulsa freshman Jillian Robbins tied the record for most field goals attempted in a game with 28 against Rice. Also in that game, Rice set the record for best field goal percentage defense, holding Tulsa to a .203 shooting percentage. Rice had a strong defensive tournament setting the record for blocked shots in the championship game against Louisiana Tech with 14. The Lady Owls also set the record for blocks in a tournament with 28.
Defensively, the Lady Techsters were also strong, setting the record for most turnovers caused in a tournament with 83. Junior Erica Smith-Taylor tied the record with 14 steals in a tournament. Louisiana Tech also set a few offensive records, scoring 100 points against Boise State in the quarterfinals. The 100-53 Lady Tecshters win was also the largest wining margin, 47 points. In that game, Louisiana Tech scored 66 first-half points also a record.
In a loss to Boise State, Hawaii tied the record for three-point field goals attempted with 31.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Louisiana Tech's Amisha Carter earned the Lady Techsters their third-straight WAC Tournament MVP. Following in the steps of Ayana Walker and Cheryl Ford, Carter earned the tournament's top honor. She was joined by teammates Erica Smith-Taylor and Trina Frierson. Freshman Lauren Neaves of Rice and Jillian Robbins of Tulsa rounded out the team.
NON-CONFERENCE RECORD The WAC is an even .500 with a 46-46 record against non-conference opponents. The WAC has the most wins against the Southland Conference with a solid 7-2 record. The WAC is 5-1 against the Big West Conference. The league has a solid 2-0 mark against the Big Ten. The WAC has seven losses against the Big 12 and Pac-10 Conferences.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST Rice is first in the nation in blocked shots (6.9 bpg). Tulsa is seventh, averaging 5.7 bpg. Louisiana is first in steals (14.8 spg) and second scoring margin (25.3) and scoring offense (83.7).
LOUISIANA TECH'S FRIERSON NAMED NAISMITH FINALIST Louisiana Tech senior Trina Frierson was one of 20 finalists named Tuesday for the 2004 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award, announced by Atlanta Tipoff Club President Jackie Bradford. Frierson, who was also named to the preseason watch list prior to the start of the 2003-04 year, is averaging 16.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for Louisiana Tech while shooting 52 percent from the field and 69 percent from the free throw line. The Naismith Board of Directors, which includes some of the countrys leading basketball coaches, journalists, and administrators, began the selection process earlier this year. They reduced the number of finalists by balloting to the 20 top males and females they feel are most deserving of the award.
20 SOMETHING Louisiana Tech and Rice are the only WAC teams this season to reach the 20-win plateau. With its 19-game winning streak, the Lady Techsters have won 26 game this season. Rice now has 21 wins after winning two at the tournament, while Tulsa needs one more win to reach 20.
CARTER AND FRIERSON MAKE WAC HISTORY Louisiana Tech senior Amisha Carter and Trina Frierson made WAC history by being the only teammates to end the regular season one-two in scoring. Carter leads the WAC in scoring, averaging 17.5 ppg. Frierson is second in scoring, averaging 16.8 ppg. Carter is also first in the league in rebounding, averaging 10.2 rpg.
WAC ADDS NEW MEXICO STATE, UTAH STATE On Oct. 23, 2003, the WAC issued invitations to New Mexico State and Utah State for the 2005 season. New Mexico State is currently 13-16 this season. Utah State is 5-22 in its first season of women's basketball in 17 years. The Aggies earned their third Big West win against Long Beach State, 64-60.
REWIND In Tulsa last season, Louisiana Tech won its second-straight WAC Tournament title emphatic 89-57 win over Fresno State. It was the Bulldogs first ever WAC Tournament final. Tournament MVP Cheryl Ford set a WAC record with 25 rebounds against the Bulldogs. It was a meeting of two former assistant coaches under Leon Barmore with Louisiana Tech's Kurt Budke defeating Fresno State's Stacy Johnson-Klein.
AGAINST THE BEST The WAC is 1-9 against non-conference teams ranked in the top 25. Louisiana Tech captured the league's first win over a ranked team with a last-second win over then-No. 6 Penn State. SMU has already played three ranked teams in No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 23 TCU. No. 12 Louisiana Tech fell to No. 3 Tennessee two weeks ago. Hawaii lost to No. 21 Arizona, while Rice has fallen to No. 7 Stanford and No. 18 LSU. Fresno State is 0-1 this season against ranked teams falling to No. 19 Utah. Tulsa lost to No. 2 Duke in Durham on Dec. 14. Rice has also lost to Baylor who is now ranked. Rankings at time of meeting.
SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS Several WAC players made it into the single-season top five. Louisiana Tech's Amisha Carter is fifth in total rebounds with 303 so far this season. Teammate Erica Smith-Taylor is fifth in total steals with 100.
WAC SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS ALL GAMES (Top 5)
Total Rebounds
1. 438 Cheryl Ford, LTU, 2002-03
2. 311 Tanya Zachary, UU, 1991-92
3. 309 Omelogo Udeze,FS, 2002-03
4. 304 Tanya Zachary,UU, 1991-92
5. 303 Amisha Carter, LTU, 2003-04
Rebound Average
1. 12.77 Cheryl Ford, LTU, 2002-03
2. 10.63 Janee Young, FS, 1996-97
3. 10.59 Amy Burnett, UW, 1993-94
4. 10.54 Keishsha Garnes, SDSU, 1990-91
5. 10.45 Amisha Carter, LTU, 2003-04
Total Steals
1. 115 Tamika Stukes, UNM, 1997-98
2. 106 Tomika Young, BYU, 1991-92
3. 103 Tomika Young, BYU, 1992-93
103 Falisha Wright, SDSU, 1993-94
5. 100 Erica Smith-Taylor, LTU, 2003-04
Steal Average
1. 3.79 Tomika Young, BYU, 1990-91
2. 3.55 Tomika Young, BYU, 1992-93
3. 3.48 Tamika Stukes, UNM, 1997-98
4. 3.45 Erica Smith-Taylor, LTU, 2003-04
5. 3.43 Jodi Nowlin-Tres, SDSU, 1996-97