Techsters, North Texas look to extend win streaks

RUSTON – When Louisiana Tech and North Texas tipoff Thursday night at 6:30 at the Thomas Assembly Center, the game will match two of the hottest teams in Conference USA.

Both the Lady Techsters and the Mean Green enter the contest on five-game winning streaks and are fighting for a top-four seed in the upcoming Conference USA Tournament in Birmingham in two weeks.

Tech enters the game 15-11 overall, 10-5 in C-USA action and in a two-way tie for third place with Southern Miss, just one-half game ahead of Old Dominion and a game-and-a-half ahead of North Texas. The Mean Green is 11-14, 8-6 and is currently alone in seventh place.

“It’s February,” Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr said. “It’s what we have talked to our team about a lot this month. It’s about setting yourself up for the (conference) tournament, trying to position yourself for the best possible scenario. We focus on what we have to do today to get better. If we can keep it simple and do that, I think we will put ourselves in a good positon.”

The Lady Techsters defeated North Texas 72-65 in Denton on Jan. 21. It was the second game of a two-game Texas road sweep and started a stretch that has seen La. Tech won eight of its last 10 games. North Texas has won five straight games, including a pair of overtime wins over Rice and UTSA, the longest winning streak for the Mean Green since the 2012-13 season.

North Texas, which hasn’t beaten Tech in 10 previous meetings, is led by guards Candice Adams, Terriell Bradley and Kelsey Criner. Adams, Bradley and forward Terra Ellison combined to score 56 of the Mean Green’s 65 points in the first meeting with Tech.

“North Texas is even more guard-oriented since the last time we played them,” Stoehr said. “They are playing four guards. We will have to defend the three. They really do a good job of penetrating the zone and forcing you to defend. We need to use our size to our advantage.

“They defend hard, really get out and pressure you. They have been pressing more because they are playing four guards. We have to do a good job of taking care of the basketball. We just have to be who we are; go out and take care of the basketball and take good shots.”

The Lady Techsters have been winning with fundamentals. Over the past four games, Tech is outrebounding its opponents by more than 15 boards per contest. The Lady Techsters rank No. 2 in C-USA in rebounding margin at +5.6.

Tech has also cut down on its turnovers in recent week, averaging just 12.7 turnovers a game over the past eight games with five games of 12 or fewer during the stretch.