Courtesy of LA Tech and GSU Athletic Communications
Bulldogs 79, Samford 76
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In a game of big runs on Friday afternoon inside the Pete Hanna Center, Louisiana Tech ended up coming out on top with a 79-76 victory over previously unbeaten Samford.
“I am really pleased with our team,” said Tech head coach Talvin Hester. “We talked about playing for 40 minutes right when we started preparing for this game. I felt like this was the first time this season we stayed locked in for the entirety of the game. It is never going to be perfect. That is not a reality. You just want to get out of a road game with a win and we did.”
The first run came from LA Tech (4-2) who jumped out to a 28-12 advantage after going on a 22-3 run. Samford (6-1) countered with a 23-5 run to help take a 35-33 lead into halftime.
The road Bulldogs countered back by coming out of the stanza with a 17-2 run to take a 50-37 lead. Up 69-53 with seven minutes to play, the home Bulldogs had one more big run in them. They got the score back to a one-possession game after putting together a 17-4 run, making it 73-70 with 1:47 to play.
From there, LA Tech was able to get just enough free throws (made only four of their last 10) and force its 23rd turnover of the game with two seconds left as Samford had the ball with a chance to tie.
Cobe Williams had 11 quick points, including three deep three-pointers, to help LA Tech take that early lead. After getting into foul trouble though, Samford forced turnovers and forced LA Tech into a six-minute scoring drought to take a two-point edge into the locker room.
It was then the combo of Isaiah Crawford and Keaston Willis that brought the road team back to life offensively. They combined to score 15 of the team’s first 17 points of the second half.
LA Tech kept its lead in double digits for the majority of the stanza, getting up by as much as 17 after Crawford drained his second triple to make it 62-45. Samford’s Ques Glover kept his team in it though, scoring 11 of his game-high 26 in the final three minutes.
With the ball, down three, with four seconds to go, Glover received the in-bounds pass looking for a chance to tie it, but the LA Tech pressure forced him to step out of bounds.
Williams finished with a team-high 25 points while Crawford scored a season-high 22 points and Willis tacked on 17. The trio made nine of the team’s 10 three-pointers.
_________________________________
Lady Techsters 73, Stetson 50
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A total team effort that saw 11 Lady Techsters score, including three in double figures, gave LA Tech the 73-50 wire-to-wire win over Stetson in the first game of the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev.
Anna Larr Roberson registered her first double-double of the season with a game and season-high 19 points to go with 10 rebounds. She was joined by Keiunna Walker (18) and Lotte Sant (11) in double figures.
“I loved the way we started the game and played together offensively,” said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. “We got stops that led to transition and moved and shared the ball for high-percentage shots. We established our interior early and it opened up some solid attacks and looks on the perimeter.”
LA Tech (4-1) got off to another hot start, assisting on six of their first nine buckets to take a 20-9 lead off Roberson’s first made three of the season.
Tech would put up 22 and 19 points in each of the first two periods for their highest first-half scoring output of the season, capped off by two great defensive plays by Salma Bates that led to a Silvia Nativi layup to end the half up 41-20.
The Techsters finished the half on a 14-3 run over the final six minutes.
Both teams had a hard time finding their rhythm in the third, which saw 18 foul calls between the two teams. Despite the choppy play and a lot of second-chance opportunities from Stetson, the Techsters extended the lead to their largest lead of the game at 25 with just eight seconds remaining in the third (59-34).
In the final stanza, Stetson (3-2) used a couple of mini runs to cut Tech’s lead to 15 (65-40), but Lady Techsters’ bench produced an 8-0 run of their own over the final three minutes, thanks to production from freshmen Ayen Angoi and Anja Buckvic.
Mackenzie Wurm capped off the game with a coast-to-coast layup following a defensive stretch where she registered two blocks and a steal.
Tech had another good night shooting, with 47 percent from the floor while holding the Hatters to just 30 percent, including 20 percent from three.
________________________________
Hawaii 63, Grambling State 47
HONOLULU, Hawaii — Grambling State University women’s basketball leading-scorer, Colbi Maples dazzled fans scoring a game-high 17 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the University of Hawaii, as the Lady Tigers fell 63-47 on the first day of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Friday afternoon.
Maples shot an efficient 7-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. She added three assists, two steals and one rebound to her total. As a team, GSU shot 36.7 percent (18-of-49) on field goal attempts
Grambling State (1-5) and Hawaii (1-4) matched each other shot for shot in the first quarter. GSU jumped out to quick 6-0 lead, but the Rainbow Wahine respond with six points of their to pull back even at the 4:58 mark. Hawaii led 13-11 at the end of one.
UH opened the second quarter with 13-0 run, growing its lead to16 points, 27-11 with 4:08 to go until halftime. Colbi Maples snapped the run with a mid-range jumper. The Lady Tigers shrunk Hawaii’s lead to 10, 32-22, heading into the break, scoring on five of their final six field goal attempts.
Trailing 45-32 at the close of the third period, GSU pulled back within single-digits early in the fourth quarter when Maples splashed a 3-pointer to make the score 45-38 with 7:36 to play. After Hawaii pushed its advantage back to double-digits, 49-38, Amanda Blake scored a layup, cutting the lead to 49-40 at the 6:37 mark.
That would be as close at Grambling State could get to Hawaii, as the Rainbow Wahine dominated the rest of the quarter to claim the 63-47 win.
