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42-607: As a member of C-USA, Louisiana Tech sponsors teams in seven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. With the Southland Bowling League , formerly home to Tech's women's bowling program, being merged into C-USA following the 2022–23 season, all Tech sports now compete in C-USA. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball team has won 21 regular season conference titles, four conference division titles, and three conference championship series. The Bulldogs have made eight appearances in

84-548: A .798 winning percentage, the third-best all-time winning percentage of any NCAA Division I program. Louisiana Tech is one of the few women's basketball programs to win at least 1,000 games, and have they have made 27 total appearances in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament . Standout former Tech players include Teresa Weatherspoon (later a Lady Techsters head coach), Venus Lacy , and Karl Malone's daughter Cheryl Ford , among others. Another notable former Tech player

126-605: A 15-year span and led the Techsters to nine Final Fours from 1983 to 1999. The women's bowling team is coached by Matt Nantais, who has led the program since 2016. Louisiana Tech finished the 2009–10 season ranked No. 18 in the nation with a 44–31 record. The Lady Techsters' home facility is the Lambright Bowling Alley, which was completed in August 2008. The men's and women's cross country teams are coached by Brian Johnson, who

168-669: A 31–13 lead in the series. This became a conference rivalry in 2013 with Tech's entry into C-USA. Although Tech's arrival united them with fellow Louisiana school Tulane , a rivalry could not develop because the Green Wave had already announced their 2014 departure for the American Athletic Conference . While in the WAC , Louisiana Tech's conference rival was the Fresno State Bulldogs as both Bulldog football teams competed in

210-445: A 4.0 GPA . The 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Mulkey was an All-American point guard at Louisiana Tech University , winning two national championships as a player: the AIAW title in 1981 and the inaugural NCAA title in 1982. In 1984, she was the inaugural winner of the women's Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award , awarded to the top college senior under 5'6"/1.68 m (the height limit

252-601: A 430–68 record and advanced to 7 Final Fours, winning the NCAA championship in 1988. She was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America's Academic Hall of Fame for her classroom achievements. In 2000, Mulkey took over a Baylor program that had finished its previous season 7–20 and last in the Big 12 Conference . Baylor received its first NCAA tournament bid during her inaugural season, going on to

294-423: A Lady Techsters sweep of Grambling State in the inaugural match at the new facility. The men's and women's track and field teams are coached by Brian Johnson, who was hired in 2022. The Lady Techsters Indoor Track and Field team won WAC Championships in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The Lady Techsters Outdoor Track and Field team won seven straight WAC Championships from 2005 to 2011. Women's volleyball

336-530: Is Women's Hall of Famer and current LSU coach Kim Mulkey , the only woman to date to have won NCAA Division I titles as a player and a head coach. The program's first two coaches, Sonja Hogg and Leon Barmore , are also in the Women's Hall of Fame, and Barmore is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as well. It was Hogg's idea to call the team the "Lady Techsters"; when she started

378-754: Is coached by Amber McCray and assisted by Jane Hays both who have been at Louisiana Tech since 2019. The Lady Techsters play their home matches at the Thomas Assembly Center . Louisiana Tech formerly competed in men's boxing and men's tennis, but discontinued those sports. Louisiana Tech competes in 16 club sports including men's and women's powerlifting, NIFA flight team, men's soccer, softball, men's and women's rugby, women's lacrosse, equestrian, karate, water skiing, cycling, bass fishing, ultimate frisbee, inline hockey, and paintball. The men's and women's powerlifting team have won 19 and 15 National Championships, respectively. The Louisiana Tech NIFA flight team won

420-607: Is coached by Steve Voltz, who became head coach in 2022. Squire Creek Country Club , a Tom Fazio -designed championship course that opened in 2002, is the home of Louisiana Tech golf. Golf Digest ranked Squire Creek as one of the top five private golf courses in the United States in 2004 and as the No. 1 golf course in Louisiana in 2019. La Tech hosts the annual Jim Rivers Intercollegiate. The Louisiana Tech women's soccer team has played at

462-624: Is the first coach in NCAA basketball history to win national championships as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. Since the inception of the NCAA women's tournament in 1982, Mulkey has participated as a player or coach every year except 1985 and 2003. As head coach, her teams won NCAA championships at Baylor in 2005 , 2012 , and 2019 and at LSU in 2023 . Mulkey is one of seven coaches to have led teams to more than one championship win, ranking third behind UConn's Geno Auriemma 's 11 titles and former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt 's 8 wins. Mulkey

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504-714: The 2020 New Orleans Bowl . The Bulldogs have had many award winners throughout the years. Troy Edwards won the 1998 Fred Biletnikoff Award as the best wide receiver in college football. Tech punter Ryan Allen became the first player to win consecutive Ray Guy Awards by winning the award in 2011 and 2012. Also in 2012, quarterback Colby Cameron won the Sammy Baugh Trophy . Tech's rivals include Southern Miss , Louisiana-Monroe , and Louisiana . Notable football alumni include Terry Bradshaw , Phil Robertson , Willie Roaf , Fred Dean , Matt Stover , Josh Scobee , Luke McCown , Ryan Moats , and Tramon Williams . Men's golf

546-513: The Bulldogs for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. They have two children together: son Kramer , a professional baseball player and collegiate All-American at Louisiana State University , and daughter Makenzie, who played both basketball and softball for Baylor. During her marriage to Robertson, she was known as Kim Mulkey-Robertson. Mulkey and Robertson divorced in 2006. Mulkey is known for her exuberant fashion worn during games. She has said her style

588-604: The Naismith Memorial and Women's Basketball Halls of Fame; Karl Malone , who entered the Naismith Hall in August 2010 for his NBA career; P.J. Brown ; and Paul Millsap . Louisiana Tech appeared in the NAIA Men's Basketball National Tournament four times. ( 1942 , 1946 , 1953 , and 1955 ). The Lady Techsters, currently led by head coach Brooke Stoehr , has been the most successful Louisiana Tech athletic team. They won

630-583: The Southland Conference . The SBL merged into Conference USA (CUSA) after the 2022–23 season, with CUSA inheriting the SBL's automatic championship berth. The SBL received at least three bids to the NCAA Championship in each season of its existence. Following the inaugural SBL Championship, four league teams (Arkansas State, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, and Vanderbilt) received at-large bids to

672-552: The Tennessee Lady Vols , LSU Tigers , WKU Lady Toppers , and Fresno State Bulldogs . Notable former student-athletes and coaches at Louisiana Tech include: Louisiana Tech has produced ten known Olympians, five of whom are basketball players, four of whom are track and field athletes, and one of whom is a baseball player. Tech's Olympians have won a combined total of six gold medals and one bronze medal. Southland Bowling League The Southland Bowling League ( SBL )

714-477: The Washington Post for an upcoming article she described as a "hit piece". She also criticized a Los Angeles Times column as sexist for describing her LSU team as "dirty debutantes". The writer apologized and the paper removed the term from the article for not meeting their editorial standards. In 1987, Mulkey married Randy Robertson, whom she met at Louisiana Tech where he was the starting quarterback for

756-525: The 1981, 1982 and 1988 national championships . Along the way, the Lady Techsters have competed in 13 Final Fours, 23 Sweet Sixteens, and 27 NCAA tournaments. The Lady Techsters basketball program boasts three Wade Trophy winners, five Olympic medalists, eight members of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame , 16 All-Americans, and 21 WNBA players. The Lady Techsters have an all-time record of 1043–264 with

798-427: The 1984 Jones Cup by an average of just under 50 points per game. Mulkey averaged 6.8 points per game. At the 1984 Summer Olympics , USA National won its six games to earn the gold medal, with Mulkey averaging 5.3 points per game. In 1985, Mulkey was hired as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech under Leon Barmore , then promoted to associate head coach in 1996 before leaving in 2000. Over her 15 years, Tech posted

840-454: The 2015 NCAA Championships, filling half of the eight available spots. The same four teams would receive at-large bids to the 2016 NCAA Bowling Championships and 2017 NCAA Bowling Championships. In 2018, the first year for automatic bids to the NCAA Championship and also the first year for a 10-team championship event, Vanderbilt earned the automatic bid and Arkansas State and Sam Houston received at-large bids. In 2019, Sam Houston State earned

882-564: The Elite Eight round, Mulkey advocated ending COVID-19 testing on the tournament players despite the ongoing pandemic. She stated during a press conference that the organization tasked with running the student tournament should "dump the COVID testing", despite not being asked about it by reporters. She then stated more fully, "Wouldn't it be a shame to keep COVID testing, and then you got kids [testing] positive or something, and they don't get to play in

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924-650: The Final Four? So you need to just forget the COVID tests and let the four teams that are playing in each Final Four go battle it out." Mulkey herself had tested positive for the virus earlier in the season, and made the comments following her team's loss to UConn , a team that Baylor was supposed to face earlier in the season but was cancelled due to Mulkey's COVID diagnosis. According to CBS News , her comments were later described by "many basketball fans" as "misinformed, dangerous and irresponsible". Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma later defended Mulkey's comments, noting

966-583: The NCAA Baseball Tournament (11–16 overall record). Its former players include MLB players David Segui , Mike Jeffcoat , Rebel Oakes , Brian Myrow , Charlie Montoyo , and George Stone . Since the MLB Draft being in 1965, 69 Louisiana Tech players have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft . The team plays their home games at J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park . The stadium

1008-506: The Tech men's basketball plays their home games at the Thomas Assembly Center with a capacity of 8,000. With a history stretching back to 1910, the Bulldogs have won 25 regular season conference championships, made six NCAA appearances and nine NIT appearances. Tech's notable men's basketball alumni include Leon Barmore , who went on to a coaching career at Tech's women's team that put him in both

1050-606: The WAC Tournament title in 2008 and C-USA Tournament title in 2017. The team plays their home games at the Lady Techster Softball Complex on the corner of Tech Drive and Alabama Street. Josh Taylor is the current head coach of the team. The women's tennis team is coached by Amanda Stone, who has led the program since 2016. On October 15, 2008, the Louisiana Tech Tennis Complex was christened with

1092-565: The WAC a year ahead of the originally planned schedule. Despite leaving the Southland Conference in all other sports, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin remained in the SBL and both participated in the 2022 and 2023 SBL Championships. All of the SBL's final members now compete in CUSA bowling. On August 7, 2018, the SBL and Youngstown State University announced that Youngstown State's bowling program

1134-749: The annual Battle for the Bone. Fresno State held a 7–4 series lead in WAC play, but the rivalry ended with Fresno State's 2012 move to the Mountain West and Tech's move to C-USA. Louisiana Tech had a historical rivalry with the Northwestern State Demons as both teams used to play in the annual State Fair Game in Shreveport, Louisiana . However, Tech sacrificed this rivalry seeking greater national prominence for their programs by moving back to Division I-A. The Lady Techsters basketball team's rivals include

1176-560: The automatic bid, while Arkansas State, Stephen F. Austin, and Vanderbilt received at-large bids. In 2021, Vanderbilt earned the automatic bid, while Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston, and Youngstown State received at-large bids. In 2022, six of the eight members made the NCAA Bowling Championships field with Vanderbilt earning the automatic bid, while Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, and Youngstown State all receiving at-large bids. In

1218-634: The complexity of decisions during the pandemic particularly in the context of college sports. After 21 seasons at Baylor, Mulkey departed for LSU in April 2021. In her second season, she led the Tigers to win the national championship for her fourth lifetime win as head coach. Mulkey has been the subject of several controversies during her coaching career. In 2013, star Baylor player Brittney Griner told ESPN that Mulkey advised student athletes to stay quiet about their sexual orientation, as being openly gay could hurt

1260-535: The league's final season in 2023, the same six members from 2022 made the NCAA Bowling Championships field, with Arkansas State earning the automatic bid. In July 2021, it was announced that Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin left the Southland for the Western Athletic Conference . After the two schools announced they would join the WAC in fall 2022, they were expelled by the Southland Conference and joined

1302-618: The national title in 1973. * AIAW Championship ** Not an NCAA -sanctioned sport, but competed at the varsity level Current facilities Practice facilities Regional alternate athletic venues and facilities Former facilities In football, Louisiana Tech's traditional rival is the Southern Miss Golden Eagles , as the two teams compete in the Rivalry in Dixie which dates back to 1935. Southern Miss currently holds

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1344-476: The program in 1974, she thought "Bulldogs" was unfeminine and feared that if she called her team the "Lady Bulldogs," it would inevitably lead to her players being called "bitches" (the female name for a dog). Barmore, who took over the reins full-time in 1985 after serving as co-head coach with Hogg for three years, was one of the most successful coaches in college basketball history, men's or women's. He lost only 87 games in 20 years, won 13 regular season titles in

1386-611: The reputation of the program at a religious school and inhibit recruiting efforts. Griner explained that while she respected Mulkey's coaching and the way Mulkey defended Griner from bullying, she did not appreciate Mulkey's request to cover her tattoos or delete social media posts about her girlfriend. Griner detailed the pain caused by this experience in her 2014 memoir. Several players defended Mulkey. In 2022, Mulkey received criticism when she refused to comment about Griner's detention in Russia . In March 2024, Mulkey threatened to sue

1428-507: The team's first head coach. Gary Blair , current head coach of the Texas A&;M women's basketball team, took over as the team's head coach in 1981 while he was an assistant coach of the Lady Techsters women's basketball team and led the softball team to its first winning record in 1981. The Lady Techsters have made three appearances in the Women's College World Series (1983, 1985, 1986) and ten NCAA Tournament appearances. The team also won

1470-513: The tournament 18 more times. During her tenure, the Bears advanced 4 times to the Final Four, winning the championship in 2005, 2012, and 2019. The 2012 national title followed a 40-0 perfect season, the first in program history. Although the 2020 NCAA tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Baylor made it to the Elite Eight of the 2021 tournament, held in an event isolation "bubble.” During

1512-526: The varsity level since 2004. The Lady Techsters are coached by Steve Voltz, who took over the program in 2021. In 2009, Louisiana Tech opened the Lady Techster Soccer Complex just south of Joe Aillet Stadium on campus in Ruston. Following the 2016 season, the Lady Techsters have recorded an all-time record of 118–105–26. The Lady Techsters softball program was founded in 1980 with Barry Canterbury as

1554-502: Was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bowling -only conference. The SBL was founded in 2015 for schools that sponsor women's bowling teams, but did not have bowling sponsored by their primary conferences. The SBL champion received an automatic bid to the NCAA Bowling Championship since the NCAA first awarded such bids in 2018. While the conference operated independently, administrative services were provided by

1596-612: Was built in 1971 and was originally known as Tech Stadium. In 1982, the stadium was renamed in honor of J.C. Love, a Ruston businessman who was a prominent supporter of the baseball program and the university. In 2008, the ballpark was named after Pat Patterson , the winningest head coach in Louisiana Tech Baseball history. Lane Burroughs is the current head coach of the Bulldog baseball team. Currently led by head coach Talvin Hester ,

1638-706: Was hired as cross country head coach in 2022. Louisiana Tech's home venue is the Tech Farm , where they host the annual Mook 4 Invitational. Louisiana Tech's football team is currently coached by Sonny Cumbie and plays their home games at Joe Aillet Stadium with a capacity of 28,562. With a program dating to 1901, Tech would notch its first victory after a 6–0 win against LSU in 1904. The Bulldogs have compiled an all-time record of 642 wins, 492 losses, and 38 ties; won 25 conference championships and three Division II National Championships in 1972, 1973, and 1974. Louisiana Tech has played in 13 Division I bowl games, most recently in

1680-689: Was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020. In 2007, Mulkey penned her autobiography, titled Won't Back Down: Teams, Dreams and Family . Kim Mulkey was born in Santa Ana, California , and spent her childhood in Tickfaw, Louisiana . After playing basketball at Nesom Junior High School in Tickfaw, she led her Hammond High School basketball team to four consecutive state championships. As high school valedictorian , she graduated with

1722-543: Was joining the league for competition beginning in the 2018–2019 season. Youngstown State replaced Monmouth, who accepted an invitation to join the MEAC. Source: Bold: Champion Italics: Runner-Up Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University 's women's basketball team . A Pan-American gold medalist in 1983 and Olympic gold medalist in 1984, she

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1764-561: Was later raised). Mulkey was selected to be a member of the USA National women's basketball team for the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela . The team won all five games to earn the gold medal for the event. Mulkey averaged 12.4 points per game. At the 1983 World Championships, USA National took home the silver medal after winning six games and losing two, with Mulkey averaging 3.1 points per game. USA National won its eight games at

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