Louisiana Tech continues a three-game road stretch in Bowling Green, Kentucky, when the Lady Techsters face Western Kentucky tonight at 6:30 p.m. inside E.A. Diddle Arena.
The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on the LA Tech Athletics app as well as 97.7 FM.
Louisiana Tech (11-6, 4-3) moved above .500 in conference play and into fourth place in the standings, picking up two wins last week over North Texas (81-66) and at UAB (61-55). Tech held the league-leading Blazers to 22 points under their scoring average in the win and moved to 9-0 this season when holding opponents to under 60 points. Tech also outrebounded the Blazers (45-42), improving to 7-0 when outrebounding the opposition.
Keiunna Walker was named Conference USA Player of the Week for her efforts, averaging 24.5 PPG in the two wins, including tying a season-high with 26 at UAB, which included a 13-16 day at the free throw line.
Walker has been one of the best in the country at getting to the line this season, ranking no. 10 in the NCAA in free throw makes (94) and No. 12 in attempts (120). She has scored 20 or more in four straight outings, including five of her last six, and moved ahead of Elinor Griffin for No. 15 on the program’s all-time scoring list.
Struggling to replace last season’s all-conference player Meral Abdelgawad, Western Kentucky (8-8, 5-2 C-USA) dropped five of their first six non-conference games to open the season but has caught fire lately. The Hilltoppers hold the conference’s second-longest winning streak at four to move into third in the C-USA standings at 5-2.
WKU is led by this week’s Conference USA Freshman of the Week, Acacia Hayes, a 5-8 guard out of Murfreesboro, Tenn., who is the lone Hilltopper in double figures at 10.9 PPG. Hayes is shooting over 50 percent from the floor (.508) and 40 percent from three (.444) while knocking down 72 percent of her attempt at the line.
Tonight’s game will be the 52nd overall match-up between LA Tech and Western Kentucky. Tech leads the all-time series 27-24, but WKU has taken 11 of the last 12 meetings. The Hilltoppers hold a 15-9 advantage in Bowling Green.
Beginning in 1983-84, this is longest standing series among current C-USA mates and one of the more storied series in program history.
Tech and WKU were once conference mates in the Sun Belt from 1991-2001, where the two teams faced off 29 times, including eight conference tournament title games, with Tech winning five.
