Posted Nov 22, 2002 09:40:21

RUSTON - Only three of the 12 players on this year's Louisiana Tech roster completely understand the environment they will play in Saturday when the Lady Techsters travel to face Western Kentucky at 7 p.m.

Senior Cheryl Ford and juniors Amber Obaze and Trina Frierson have all experienced the atmosphere at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kent., during Tech's days as a former member of the Sun Belt Conference.

However, the remaining nine players know only what their teammates and head coach Kurt Budke have told them ... expect a battle against the Lady Toppers (0-0).

"We have to definitely learn how to win on the road in front of a hostile crowd," Budke said. "This game will be a good test. It will be loud and it should be a fun atmosphere. We have to see how this team handles things when they face adversity. Western Kentucky is one of the toughest places to play in the country."

During its 10-year membership in the Sun Belt, Tech and Western were easily the most dominant teams, thus the two programs developed a passionate and heated rivalry of the years.

That rivalry and the fact Western Kentucky has not played a regular season game yet will combine to make it tough on Budke and company.

"That's definitely one of the tough things about this first game on the road," Budke said. "They have a new coach; we don't know anything about them; there is no film to watch (since this is their first game); so we are kind of going in blind. No one likes to do that."

The game will mark the first regular season action for the Lady Techsters since the season opening victory over Texas Tech, almost two weeks ago. One of the keys to Tech continuing the success it started with the win over the Lady Raiders is the progress and maturation of its nine newcomers.

"It's too long a season and too much travel to play the starters 40 minutes every night," Budke said. "I like the progress of our young players. I think there is no doubt that every one of them is going to help us at some point this season. They just have to continue to get better with the understanding of how hard they have to play this game every night."

Western Kentucky under first year head coach and former letter winner Mary Taylor Cowles looks to improve on last season's 16-14 record. The Lady Toppers, who have lost in the first round of the WNIT last year, return four starters and nine letter winners.

Tech leads the all-time series with Western Kentucky 23-8, including an 8-6 mark at E.A. Diddle Arena. The game can be heard on KXKZ-FM 107.5 (Ruston), KYLA-FM 106.7 (Shreveport) and KBYO-FM 104.5 (Tallulah-Vicksburg) as well as over the Internet at www.z1075fm.com with Western Kentucky radio broadcaster Barry Williams providing all the live action.