Louisiana Tech women’s basketball won’t be able to sneak up on anyone in Conference USA this season.
Tabbed as the preseason favorites at last week’s CUSA Media Day, the Lady Techsters enter the 202526 season with sky-high expectations — the likes of which haven’t been heaped onto the program in more than a decade.
The last time the Lady Techsters were picked as preseason favorites to win their league was the 2011-12 season when Tech was still in the Western Athletic Conference. Brooke Stoehr had yet to become a head coach.
The hype has merit given the fact Tech is the only CUSA team to return its top two leading scorers from a season ago and finished with an 18-10 record on the way to the WNIT Great 8, earning the program’s first postseason win since 2009 along the way.
“Last year we were the babies on the block,” Stoehr said at CUSA Media Day on Tuesday. “We had seven freshmen and played four a lot and started three of them. When you have a group that wants to be around each other and come back and do something special, it’s very rare in this day and time and we’re going to enjoy it while we have it and try to enjoy every moment and see what this group can accomplish.”
Tech battled NIL and transfer portal temptation and brought back four impactful players who took CUSA by storm last season as freshmen, led by 2025-26 CUSA Preseason Player of the Year Paris Bradley.
Bradley, a first team All-CUSA selection last season and 2024-25 CUSA Freshman of the Year, averaged 14.4 points, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds –— becoming the first Lady Techster to win a conference Freshman of the Year since Erica Taylor won in 2001-02, Tech’s first season in the WAC.
She reached double figures in 23 of her 34 games, including eight 20-point games – the most by a Lady Techster freshman since 1978-79. But she didn’t come back to Tech to enjoy the fruits of last year’s labor. She has more to prove.
“ I feel like there’s always room to improve with basketball, especially on the defensive end. Everyone can always have better defense,” Bradley said. “Trying to buy in more to defense, starting to use my voice more in ways that can help my teammates, and then going to go get buckets.”
Jordan Marshall, a Preseason All- CUSA selection, is back as well after averaging 11.6 points and 8.6 rebounds last season, along with Averi Aaron (6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds), and Isla Airey (5.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks).
Continuity isn’t common in college basketball nowadays, and Stoehr believes the return of the sophomore core, along with veterans Jianna Morris and Mackenzie Wurm, have Tech in position to succeed this winter.
But there’s no trophy for a preseason poll.
“We want to be there at the end of the year,” Stoehr said. “I want her (Bradley) to get Player of the Year at the end of the year. I want our team to win and hold that trophy up at the end of the year. And a lot is going to happen, and a lot is going to take place between now and then, and we’re trying to string two and three practices at this point.”
At CUSA Media Day, Stoehr stayed on the idea that the 2025- 26 Lady Techsters must learn how to win. The 202425 group is gone. Yes, several familiar faces are back, but team dynamics change season to season, and Tech can’t bring a familiar approach.
To achieve meaningful success, like getting the program back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011, Stoehr is preaching Tech’s new-look roster must come together as one unit.
The roster has noticeable additions to fold into the mix, led by two junior college transfers from Three Rivers College in Lexi Weaver and Kaleigh Thompson. Tech also added guards Kennedy Evans (Oklahoma State) and Joy Madison- Key (Tulane).
“I think we have a lot of talent in our locker room, but we talked about it a lot in the offseason, in our development and through the summer with this new group, is we have to learn how to win,” Stoehr said. “The most talented teams don’t always win. Just showing up is not good enough. It’s the teams that play the best together are the most successful and we gotta find that with this group.”
Bradley, who finished top 10 in points (489), assists (102), free throws made (122), three- pointers made (47), and minutes played (1,100) for a freshman at Tech, agrees with her head coach.
“Honestly, it was nice to see but we shouldn’t get too caught up in it only because we have a lot to accomplish this year,” Bradley said of preseason expectations. “All of that was based off last year, so I feel like we need to come in with a new mindset. Yes, we should be thankful we’re at the top, but we should focus on really being at the top by the end of the season.”
The Lady Techsters begin the 2025-26 season on Nov. 4 against the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.