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
	Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

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.

1997–98 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Louisiana Tech †	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

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. 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. Retrieved June 22, 2024.

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

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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
Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →