Back in mid-December, the Lady Techsters faced off against LSU at the Smoothie King Center in the Compete 4 Cause Classic. It was a game with a very clear and obvious storyline: LSU’s Kim Mulkey coaching against her former school for the first time since taking the job in Baton Rouge.
A pre-game video was shown on the video board, featuring highlights of her time in a Lady Techster uniform. And in the post-game press conference, many of the questions posed to Mulkey revolved around the idea of playing her alma mater.
But there was more to the story between these teams than just who the coaches are. And the shirts LSU wore during their pre-game warmup seemed to hint at it.
What exactly the “cause” of the Compete 4 Cause Classic was still somewhat remains a mystery to me. In the press booklet, phrases like “participating student-athletes will uplift youth across New Orleans” were used. And during the game, some photo-op images were shown on the jumbotron of players interacting with kids.
But the last time these two teams played in this building, the “cause” was a bit less obscure.
The Katrina Relief Basketball Classic
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Mississippi coast and devastated the City of New Orleans. With the city far from recovery nearly a year later, Pokey Chatman, a New Orleans native and head coach of the Lady Tigers, had an idea.
In the summer before the 2006-07 season, she called up Chris Long, the former Leon Barmore assistant and head coach of the Lady Techsters, with a proposition. The two programs, who hadn’t met in the regular season in over 15 years, would schedule a neutral site game at the New Orleans Arena. All proceeds from the game would go to Habitat for Humanity and the Friends of New Orleans Recreation Department. And to sweeten the deal, LSU would play an away game in Ruston the following year.
I imagine it was the easiest “Yes” Chris Long ever had to give.
Replacing a Legend
In Leon Barmore’s 17 years head coaching the Lady Techsters, Louisiana Tech had made the NCAA tournament every single year and made it past the first round in all but three years..
After Barmore’s retirement in 2002, Tech retained one of his assistants, Kurt Budke, to take over as head coach. Budke had done his mentor proud, getting the Lady Techsters to the Sweet 16 in each of his first two years.
But after a loss in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Budke cashed out and left for Oklahoma State. Long seemed like a solid replacement of a replacement, leading the Techsters to a 26-5 record in his first year in 2005-06, but a second straight opening round loss in the NCAA tournament was troubling.
The Rise of the Tigers
From 1983 to 1991, LSU made the NCAA tournament in 7 of 8 years, but only made it to the Elite Eight once and never any further. During that same stretch, Louisiana Tech won a national championship and went to four additional Final Fours. And although LSU did end Tech’s 9-game win streak over the Tigers in 1990, it was clear who was the dominant program in the state.
But in the 2003-04 season, in Sue Gunter’s last season as Tiger head coach, LSU had finally cracked the Final Four. It was a trend that new coach Pokey Chatman continued for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, reaching and getting eliminated in the Final Four each year.
And although three straight years of being two wins away from a National Championship must have been frustrating, the Tigers had been closer to cutting down the final nets in each of the last five seasons than Tech had.
The Game
But before the game even tipped on December 30th, 2006, it was clear the teams were on completely different trajectories. LSU entered the game ranked #6 with a 13-1 record. The lone loss? To Baylor, coached at the time by one Kim Mulkey.
Tech, meanwhile, had already racked up 8 losses, something they had only done two other times in the past 28 years.
It was a long time coming, but this was the moment of the changing of the guard in Louisiana women’s basketball. This was LSU’s second straight win over Tech, a streak that has now extended to 10 straight wins over the Lady Techsters, one game longer than Tech’s longest win streak over the Tigers.
Looking Forward
The way the games in 2006 and 2025 can be described can also describe the trajectories of the programs themselves.
Louisiana Tech made some early noise and even won some National Championships. But as time has gone on, LSU has taken over and is now the dominant women’s basketball program in the state of Louisiana. And it’s hard to imagine them ever relinquishing that crown.
It’s a new year. A time for resolutions and attempts to make plans to better oneself. But it also means that we’re an additional year away from the heyday of the Lady Techsters, without much hope we’ll get to relive the glory days.
But banners hang forever. And as CUSA play opens this week and the path to the conference tournament – and an NCAA tournament auto-bid – truly begins, the Lady Techsters will once again be given the chance to compete.