Louisiana Tech Sports: End of Year Grades
Louisiana Tech continued its impressive trend throughout the University of putting solid teams on the field throughout the 2017-2018 Athletics year. Let’s take a look at how the five major programs performed:
Football: B-
Louisiana Tech continues to take steps in the right direction in 2017 and finished 7-6 overall while winning its fourth consecutive bowl game. Replacing Ryan Higgins, Trent Taylor, and Carlos Henderson proved to be as difficult as everyone believed it would be as Tech averaged 14 less points per game in 2017 than in 2016. Boston Scott was the clear bright spot offensively in 2017, rushing for 1,047 yards and eight touchdowns before being selected in the 6th round of the NFL Draft in April. Defensively, freshman Amik Robertson was advertised throughout 2017 and collected 62 total tackles and a team-high five interceptions. While it was a disappointment to lose four games by a combined 10 points, winning a fourth straight bowl game kept the momentum heading in the right direction and led to a strong 2018 recruiting class that ranked second in Conference USA. J’Mar Smith returns at quarterback for the Bulldogs in 2018 with 14 career starts now under his belt. This will be the first time since 2010 that Louisiana Tech has returned its starting quarterback from the previous season. Overall, eight starters return offensively and seven starters return defensively for a team that is expected to compete for a Conference USA Championship in 2018.
Men’s Basketball: C-
Entering the 2017-2018 season, expectations were high for the Dunkin’ Dogs. A quick 4-0 start that included winning the Cancun Challenge had Bulldog fans thinking one thing: NCAA Tournament. What would follow the great start could have never been planned for. Leading scorer Jalen Harris left the program on December 20th, DaQuan Bracey suffered a low back injury that lingered throughout the season, and Joniah White was forced to medically retire in the middle of conference play. It’s pretty difficult to find success when 60% of your starting lineup is missing, and it resulted in the Bulldogs finishing 17-16 overall. The freshmen class was a bright spot as Amorie Archibald, Anthony Duruji, Exavian Christon, and Jacolby Pemberton all played key roles down the stretch in conference play and certainly held their own. With some solid junior college transfers signed in the 2018 recruiting class along with a full return to health from DaQuan Bracey, Coach Eric Konkol and his Bulldogs are looking forward to bouncing back in 2018-2019.
Women’s Basketball: B
Brooke Stoehr did an exceptional job in her second year at Louisiana Tech as the Lady Techsters finished 19-12 overall and 10-6 in conference play, good for a tie for third place. While many thought the Lady Techsters had a great chance to win the Conference USA tournament and go dancing, the season came to an abrupt end when the Techsters fell to North Texas in the first round. The Lady Techsters did land a bid in the Women’s NIT for the second straight year but fell to Missouri State at home in the first round. Alexus Malone was dominant down low for the Techsters all year as she earned 1st team All-Conference honors averaging 14.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per games. Kierra Anthony earned 2nd team honors as she averaged 14 points and 4 rebounds per contest. Looking ahead to 2018-2019, replacing Malone will be the biggest offseason question and will determine whether or not the Lady Techsters can make a run at their first NCAA Tournament since 2011.
Softball: B-
The Lady Techster softball program is in as good of a spot as any sport on Tech’s campus. Mark Montgomery’s team finished 34-23 overall and finished fourth in Conference USA after being picked first in the preseason. The Lady Techster’s had an opportunity to wrap up the regular season crown in the final series of the regular season but were swept at UTEP. The Lady Techster’s would then ultimately see their season come to an end in Charlotte at the Conference USA tournament after winning just one game. Morgan Turkoly was a bright spot for the Techster’s as the junior was the Conference USA Player of the Year. Turkoly hit an astounding .409 with four home runs and 26 RBI. Ace pitcher, Preslee Gallaway, was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Year after finishing 18-8 overall with a 2.43 ERA. A majority of the roster returns in 2019 as the Techster’s will look for their second NCAA Regional appearance in three years.
Baseball: A-
What Lane Burroughs did with the Louisiana Tech baseball program was the most impressive job in the 2017-2018 Athletics year. While the Diamond ‘Dogs didn’t make a regional, winning 39 games and finishing in second place in Conference USA was extremely impressive. After losing 15 seniors from the 2017 team, the ‘Dogs were picked 7th in the preseason poll. Burroughs re-stocked his roster in impressive fashion as seven Bulldogs made All-Conference, with six of those being newcomers. Hunter Well and Logan Bailey were selected to the first team, while Parker Bates, David Leal, and Logan Robbins were selected to the second team. Freshmen, Steele Netterville and Taylor Young were selected to the All-Freshman Team. Pitching coach, Corey Barton, was named the league’s Assistant Coach of the Year. After coming up just short of a regional appearance in 2018, the Bulldogs only lose five seniors and are poised to be even stronger in 2019 led by a pitching staff that will be one of the best in the country.
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