1997–98 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball team

1997–98 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball
1997–98 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball
Sun Belt regular season champion; Sun Belt tournament champion
NCAA tournament, Runner-Up
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 4
Record	31–4 (13–1 Sun Belt Conference)
Head coach	Leon Barmore (16th season);
Assistant coach	Kim Mulkey
Home arena	Thomas Assembly Center

1997–98 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 †	13	–	1	.929	31	–	4	.886
No. 15 Western Kentucky	12	–	2	.857	26	–	9	.743
Arkansas State	11	–	3	.786	20	–	10	.667
New Orleans	7	–	7	.500	12	–	16	.429
Louisiana–Lafayette	7	–	7	.500	9	–	18	.333
South Alabama	4	–	10	.286	7	–	20	.259
Lamar	2	–	12	.143	5	–	22	.185
Texas-Pan American	0	–	14	.000	1	–	26	.037

† 1998 Sun Belt tournament winner

The 1997–98 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball team represented Louisiana Tech University during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Leon Barmore, who guided the team to a 31–4 record and a runner-up finish at the 1998 NCAA tournament.^[1] This was the program's sixth appearance in the NCAA championship game. The team played their home games at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, Louisiana as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.

Roster

1997–98 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Hometown
G		LaQuan Stallworth	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Silsbee, Texas
C		Alisa Burras	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr
F	21	Monica Maxwell	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr
F	30	Amanda Wilson	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr
G	35	Tamicha Jackson	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	So	Dallas, Texas

Head coach

Leon Barmore

Assistant coach(es)

Kim Mulkey

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 21, 1997*	No. 2	at No. 1 Tennessee	L 61–75	0–1	Thompson-Boling Arena (16,490) Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 24, 1997*	No. 2	Texas–Arlington	W 83–38	1–1	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
Dec 6, 1997*	No. 4	vs. Iowa Central Fidelity Invite	W 83–58	4–1	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Dec 7, 1997*	No. 4	vs. No. 2 Old Dominion Central Fidelity Invite	L 65–88	4–2	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Dec 13, 1997*	No. 4	Florida State	W 86–60	5–2	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
Jan 21, 1998*	No. 4	Penn State	W 88–58	15–2	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
Jan 25, 1998	No. 4	at No. 16 Western Kentucky	L 86–88	15–3 (5–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, Kentucky
Feb 28, 1998	No. 4	at New Orleans	W 98–61	23–3 (13–1)	Lakefront Arena New Orleans, Louisiana
Sun Belt tournament
Mar 5, 1998*	(1) No. 4	(8) Texas-Pan American	W 92–56	24–3	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
Mar 6, 1998*	(1) No. 4	(4) New Orleans	W 91–54	25–3	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
Mar 7, 1998*	(1) No. 4	(2) No. 15 Western Kentucky	W 69–68	26–3	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
NCAA tournament
Mar 14, 1998*	(3 MW) No. 4	(14 MW) Holy Cross First round	W 86–58	27–3	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
Mar 16, 1998*	(3 MW) No. 4	(6 MW) No. 14 Clemson Second round	W 74–52	28–3	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
Mar 21, 1998*	(3 MW) No. 4	vs. (2 MW) No. 11 Alabama Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 71–57	29–3	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, Texas
Mar 23, 1998*	(3 MW) No. 4	vs. (4 MW) No. 21 Purdue Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 72–65^[2]	30–3	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, Texas
Mar 27, 1998*	(3 MW) No. 4	vs. (4 E) No. 10 NC State National Semifinal – Final Four	W 84–65^[3]	31–3	Kemper Arena (17,976) Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 29, 1998*	(3 MW) No. 4	vs. (1 ME) No. 1 Tennessee National Championship	L 75–93^[1]	31–4	Kemper Arena (17,976) Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central.

^[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	Not released
Coaches	2	2	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	2

^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

References

^ ^a ^b "Tennessee Wins Sixth NCAA Title". The Washington Post. March 29, 1998. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ "Tech turns back Purdue". The Tampa Bay Times. March 24, 1998. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ "La. Tech runs away". The Tampa Bay Times. March 28, 1998. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ "2023-24 Louisiana Tech Women's Basketball Record Book". issuu.

[runnerup-1] "Tennessee Wins Sixth NCAA Title". The Washington Post. March 29, 1998. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[2] "Tech turns back Purdue". The Tampa Bay Times. March 24, 1998. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[3] "La. Tech runs away". The Tampa Bay Times. March 28, 1998. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

[book-4] "2023-24 Louisiana Tech Women's Basketball Record Book". issuu.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball
Venues	Memorial Gymnasium (1974–1982) Thomas Assembly Center (1982–present)
Culture & lore	Tech (mascot)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	List of seasons 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics