Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
It was a day-night sweep by the Louisiana Tech women’s basketball and volleyball teams Thursday as both grabbed big wins in the Thomas Assembly Center.
LA Tech 59, Arkansas State 56 (Women’s Basketball)
The Louisiana Tech women’s basketball team got off to a 2-0 start in front of nearly three thousand local students for the annual Education Day game with a 59-56 win over Arkansas State Thursday on Karl Malone Court.
“I’m really proud of our effort and response in the third quarter today,” said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. “You have to give Arkansas State a lot of credit for how they came in and competed. They had a great plan and were ready.
“We had an amazing crowd today with all the students and they made a big impact, but it was an adjustment to deal with all the noise. Our communication on defense was not good to start and Arkansas State took advantage of that, but I think we showed what an experienced and mature team we have with the response in the second half. No one panicked, we just talked about what we need to do, and we responded.”
Salma Bates tied her career-high with 17 points as Anna Larr Roberson joined Bates in double figures with 10 points and added seven rebounds for LA Tech (2-0).
Arkansas State (0-1) came out firing early, hitting five of their first six shots and using a 7-0 run to build a 16-7 lead with 3:45 to play in quarter No. 1.
Keiunna Walker’s layup with 3:10 remaining in the first stopped a three-minute scoreless streak, and Bates’ strong first quarter, with eight points, cut the lead to 21-16 after one.
The Red Wolves picked up where they left off to start the second quarter putting together a 9-2 run, but the Techsters held ASU to just five points over the final seven minutes and used a mini 6-2 to cut Arkansas State’s lead to 35-28 at the half.
The Techsters found their defensive mentality in the third quarter, forcing Arkansas State to a 1-9 start from the field, and used a 9-0 run over 3:10 to grab their first lead of the day, 39-38, off a Roberson layup.
Tech extended the run to 14-0 on buckets from Robyn Lee and Silvia Nativi to grab a 44-40 lead with 3:19 to play in the third. Tech held on to a three-point lead to end the third (46-43).
LA Tech continued its strong defensive play to build their largest lead of the game, 57-45, thanks to an 11-2 run with 5:15 remaining.
Arkansas State did not go away, using a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 57-55 with 54 seconds remaining but Roberson’s offensive rebound-putback with 21 seconds left extended the lead to four.
The Red Wolves had an opportunity to tie the game in the final five seconds but missed a contested three. Tech was able to run out the final seconds to take the three-point win.
After the hot start, Arkansas State shot 33 percent from their field (19-25) and hit 8-26 from three. Uncharacteristically, the Lady Techsters were just 8-15 from the free-throw line but shot 44 percent from the field (23-52) and went 5-15 from three.
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Lady Techsters 3, FIU 1 (Women’s Volleyball)
The Louisiana Tech volleyball team defeats FIU 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-22) for the first time since 2019 on Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
“I could say so much about so many people in this match,” said Tech head coach Amber McCray. “What a gritty, come-from-behind performance and a sign of such growth by our team. This was the total team effort we talk about when describing what our team looks like when we’re at our best. I can’t wait to carry this momentum into another monumental game for our program this Saturday.”
LA Tech began the night with a rough start but was able to put it behind them and win three straight sets to claim a victory over FIU. The Lady Techsters came out strong in the first set. They held a lead over the Panthers until midway through. With LA Tech up 15-14, FIU produced an 8-0 scoring run made up of five LA Tech errors, two kills, and an ace. The seven-point lead late in the set made it difficult for the Lady Techsters to try to come back and fell 25-19. Chard’e Vanzandt began her journey to double-digit kills with three.
The Lady Techsters started strong in the second set with an early 5-0 scoring run. The run consisted of two kills by Vanzandt, two Panther errors, and a service ace from Morgan Smith.
Despite their efforts, FIU wasn’t able to ever gain the lead back in the set. Only up by three, Sydney Jackwin delivered the set point to finalize the set 25-21. Vanzandt added three more kills along with Andrea Spasojevic adding five to pair with her seven digs.
The momentum was high heading into the third set and The Lady Techsters came out ready to take a lead in the match. With an early 4-0 scoring run produced by a kill from Ashley Taylor, a kill from Jailen Hurley, and back-to-back aces from Jackwin, LA Tech took a five-point lead. The next five points went back and forth between the two teams until the Lady Techsters came back with another 4-0 scoring run. Vanzandt tallied two more kills along with one from Jackwin and an ace from Spasojevic.
With a six-point advantage, LA Tech didn’t want to give FIU the chance to make their way back into the set. Jackwin, Hurley, and Spasojevic came out swinging to add three kills to another 4-0 scoring run along with an FIU error. Spasojevic fourth kill of the set brought the set to an end at 25-14.
The Lady Techsters led over FIU 19-9 in kills in the third set. Vanzandt collected five more kills as well as Spasojevic added four.
The final set kept the Lady Techsters on their toes. FIU wasn’t going to give up easily. The two teams went back and forth, only being able to collect a combined four 3-0 scoring runs. Tied at 11-11 midway through, a kill from Smith and two Panther errors, the Lady Techsters added their first 3-0 scoring run to give them the lead they held through the end. FIU fired back with their second 3-0 scoring run to shorten LA Tech’s lead down to one. Four of the eight final Lady Techsters’ points came from kills by Spasojevic, Smith, Jackwin, and Vanzandt. Taylor closed out the match with a huge block to bring the final score to 25-22.
