Courtesy of LA Tech Athletics Communications
LSU-Alexandria at Lady Techsters
Louisiana Tech opens their golden season of Lady Techster Basketball at home tonight when they host LSU-Alexandria at 6 p.m. inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
The contest can be seen on ESPN+ and can be heard on 97.7 FM with Kyle Roberts providing the call of the action.
“We are excited about the start of the season,” said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. “Every year is a new journey with a new group, even if we do have 10 returners. We have had two productive scrimmages and have been able to work on a number of different aspects with our group that needed improvement.
“I’m looking forward to watching this group compete in front of our fans and grow together throughout the season. Monday will be just the start, and we’ll see how much we can develop and how far this team can go this season. They are ready to compete against someone other than each other and our Dream Team guys. It’s always fun to be back in the TAC with our great fans and students.”
Louisiana Tech opens the 50th season in the history of the program just seven wins shy of becoming the fifth NCAA program to amass 1,200 wins. The Lady Techsters rank fifth in NCAA history in all-time wins and winning percentage (.755).
Anna Larr Roberson leads a roster that returns 10 players from last season’s WNIT run. A Preseason All-Conference USA selection, Roberson averaged 12.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. She is a two-time All-CUSA Second Team selection.
Louisiana Tech is 37-12 all-time in season openers and 40-9 in home openers. The Techsters are 33-8 in lid lifters at Thomas Assembly Center.
LSU-A, an NAIA program, started their season with an 82-52 victory over Southern University at New Orleans on Oct. 28.
The Generals were led by Amani Gray with nearly a quadruple-double, 16 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and eight steals.
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Bulldogs at Colorado State
The Louisiana Tech Men’s Basketball team begins its 97th season of hoops on tonight as the Bulldogs open the 2023-24 campaign on the road against Colorado State.
Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. CT at Moby Arena and can be heard on 107.5 FM with Malcolm Butler providing a call of the action.
LA Tech heads into year two under head coach Talvin Hester. The anchor of the Bulldogs this season will be Isaiah Crawford who was named as the Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year in a vote by the league head coaches.
After recovering from his second season-ending knee injury, the two-time All-Conference USA forward averaged a team-best 13.7 points per game. He also led the ‘Dogs with 5.3 rebounds per game and in total steals with 62, the sixth most in a single season in program history.
Other key returns for LA Tech, who was picked to finish fourth in the CUSA preseason poll, include Dravon Mangum (averaged 7.2 points while making 20 starts), Will Allen (started 18 games), and Jordan Crawford (named to CUSA All-Freshman Team after leading the Bulldogs in total assists with 100).
Colorado State was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll. The Rams look to bounce back from a 15-18 season in 2022-23, this after making back-to-back postseason appearances including an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
The Rams are led by MWC Preseason Player of the Year Isaiah Stevens who is a four-time All-MWC selection. Last season, the guard averaged 17.9 points, 6.7 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game for CSU. He was also named to the Bob Cousy Award Preseason Watch List, an annual award given to the top men’s collegiate point guard.
LA Tech and CSU have met only once on the hardwood, matching up in the 2021 NIT Final Four in Frisco, Texas at the Comerica Center. The Bulldogs trailed by as much as 11 points with less than nine minutes to play in the game, but completed the double-digit comeback by scoring the game-winning bucket with less than one second remaining to claim third place as part of the consolation game.
