Louisiana

Lady Toppers use second half comeback to beat Louisiana Tech

Published

2 years ago

February 8, 2024

Lady Toppers use second half comeback to beat Louisiana Tech

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – WKU women’s basketball (14-10, 5-4 CUSA) rallied to get a 64-56 win against Louisiana Tech (8-15, 2-6 CUSA) after being down as much as 19 points on Wednesday night in E.A. Diddle Arena.

The win gave head coach Greg Collins his 100th victory as head coach at WKU. He’s just the fourth head coach in program history to notch 100 wins.

“The box score looks a lot more like what our box scores used to look like,” said head coach Greg Collins. “We forced 21 turnovers, we get 18 steals and we got to the free throw line. I felt like they played really hard. We had a lot of contributions tonight. I felt like the second half was more like how we have played. It was nice to see some shots go in, finally.”

Alexis Mead led the Lady Toppers with 21 points, eight rebounds, five steals and five assists. Teresa Faustino had 11 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Josie Gilvin finished with eight points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Karris Allen added nine points and two rebounds.

The Lady Toppers were shorthanded with Acacia Hayes and Destiny Salary sitting out. Hayes is out indefinitely with a knee injury. Salary was serving a one game suspension.

It was the ninth come-from-behind win of the season for WKU. It was the fourth time WKU has comeback from a double-digit deficit. It was the seventh win for the Lady Toppers when trailing at halftime and the fifth when trailing during the fourth quarter.

LA Tech scored the first points of the game, but WKU quickly followed up with back-to-back baskets to take a 4-2 lead. The Lady Techsters used an 8-0 run go back ahead. A three from Mead and a layup from Faustino cut the lead back down to one, but LA Tech scored five straight to end the quarter up 15-9.

The Lady Techsters took their largest lead of the game in the second quarter, going ahead 19 with 2:52 left behind a 9-0 run. The Lady Toppers responded with an 8-0 run to get it back down to 11, but a three from LA Tech just before the break pushed it back out to 14 at halftime.

WKU doubled up LA Tech in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Techsters 19-8 in the frame. After a free throw from the Lady Techsters, WKU went on a 13-2 run to chip away at the lead, trailing only by four at that point. A three and a jumper from LA Tech extended the lead back out to nine, but WKU ended the quarter on a 6-0 run to go into the final period down 44-41.

A jumper from Mead to open the fourth quarter brought WKU within one. Gilvin followed with a bucket to give WKU its first lead since the first quarter. LA Tech came right back and regained the lead with five straight points, but buckets from Odeth Betancourt and Faustino tied the game with 6:35 left. LA Tech scored next, but WKU went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 57-51. With 1:15 left, LA Tech made basket to cut it to four, but had to foul to get the ball back.

WKU connected on six free throws and made defensive stops to extend the lead to 63-53 with 28 seconds left. LA Tech ended their drought with a three with 26 seconds left, but the damage was done. A free throw from Mead sealed the deal.

WKU will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. against Jacksonville State in Diddle Arena.

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Louisiana

Governor’s Office of Strategic Community Initiatives | Office of Governor Jeff Landry

Published

10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Governor’s Office of Strategic Community Initiatives | Office of Governor Jeff Landry

Driving Louisiana Forward Program

Commerical Driver’s License (CDL) Training

In partnership with the Louisiana Workforce Commission and South Louisiana Community College, this program aims to provide African American males with financial assistance to obtain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training, strengthening the resilience and contributions of this key demographic and improving equitable access to workforce opportunities. This initiative aims to reduce high unemployment rates within this community but also focuses on ensuring participants come from rural and economically disadvantaged areas.

Earn your CDL Class A license with this comprehensive classroom and behind-the-wheel program to drive tractor[1]trailers, dump trucks, tow trucks, delivery trucks, tanker trucks, and flatbed trucks.

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Louisiana

Landry asks Louisiana’s Washington delegation to redraw federal judicial districts

Published

22 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Landry asks Louisiana’s Washington delegation to redraw federal judicial districts

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Gov. Jeff Landry is asking Louisiana’s congressional leaders to amend the state’s federal judicial districts, citing caseload growth and public safety concerns.

Landry sent letters to Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. John Kennedy, Congressman Cleo Fields, and Congresswoman Julia Letlow requesting the change.

The request

Louisiana is currently divided into three federal judicial districts: Eastern, Middle, and Western. Landry is asking that West Feliciana Parish be moved from the Middle District to the Western District.

In the letters, Landry cited significant growth in the Middle District and an increased caseload for its judges. He said a major driver of the Middle District docket is Louisiana State Penitentiary.

Public safety argument

Landry said moving West Feliciana Parish into the Western District would improve judicial efficiency and better address public safety needs in East Baton Rouge Parish and the state.

He said East Baton Rouge Parish continues to battle violent crime. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, recent numbers show violent crime in the parish has decreased.

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Louisiana

Louisiana medical marijuana leader touts industry growth, safety: ‘We’ve done it right.’

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Louisiana medical marijuana leader touts industry growth, safety: ‘We’ve done it right.’

After over five years of legal cannabis sales in the state, Good Day Farm Louisiana President John Davis maintains that Louisiana’s medical marijuana market is the best in the South.

At a Rotary Club meeting Wednesday, Davis touted the industry’s safety, oversight and stability, factors he says are why Louisiana is ahead of other states that have legalized marijuana sales.

“The program has matured,” Davis said at the meeting. “It’s scaled, and most importantly, compared to all these other states that got out ahead of us, here we’re safe, we’re consistent, we’re regulated, we have oversight, and we have economic stability, which is not seen in other states.”

The Louisiana Department of Health regulates the industry from cultivation to retail in what Davis describes as a “very narrow playing field.”

Good Day Farm is one of two licensed cannabis growers that cultivate products for the 10 licensed retailers in the state. The company originally partnered with the LSU Agricultural Center to operate growing facilities in Ruston and Baton Rouge. They also operate dispensaries, including a 10,000-square-foot retail location in Lake Charles, the largest dispensary in the South.

Good Day Farm Louisiana distributes approved medical marijuana products to licensed dispensaries in Louisiana. Ilera Holistic Healthcare holds the other cannabis growing license in the state.

The medical marijuana patient base has boomed over the past two years. From the first quarter of 2024 to the last quarter of 2025, the number of patients has more than doubled, according to data Davis presented at the meeting. Nearly 150,000 people in Louisiana are part of the state’s medical marijuana program — that’s 3.2% of the state’s population.

With increased access to the product, a wide variety of products and an expanding consumer base, prices have fallen. Average prices across all products, which include cannabis flower, tinctures, vape devices and edibles, is about $47, Davis said, and overall medical marijuana prices have dropped about 21% from mid-2024 to January this year.

Stigma surrounding marijuana has fallen, too, he said, crediting the state’s growers and retailers acting as “good stewards” for the industry’s stability.

“The legislature sees how we’re behaving,” he said in an interview following the meeting. “The regulators see how we’re operating, and we’ve done a very good job staying in our swim lane and complying with the rules.”

Product safety is top of mind, too — 98.5% of Good Day Farm products have passed the state department of health’s tests to ensure the potency of the products matches the potency printed on the labels, he said.

Davis touted Louisiana’s strong regulation of the medical marijuana market amid other state’s challenge to manage the growing industry. In Oklahoma, a study commissioned by the state’s marijuana authority found that the marijuana supply is at least 32 times greater than demand in the state. Washington and Oregon have also struggled with marijuana surpluses.

“We’re a strong state,” Davis said. “We’ve done it right.”

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