Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
The Louisiana Tech women’s basketball team fell 71-63 to Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon inside Memorial Gymnasium.
Anna Larr Roberson led the Lady Techsters with a season-high 27 points and surpassed 800 career rebounds. The senior finished 13-18 from the field and pulled down six rebounds.
“She played really balanced and was slow to her actions today,” said head coach Brooke Stoehr. “We found her in some good spots, and she’s capable of doing that. It’s really good to see her be able to do that. For us, we’ve got to continue to find ways to get her the ball and move the ball for easy shots.”
Both teams came out firing to open the game, connecting on five of the first eight shots from the field.
Vanderbilt (8-1) built an early 11-8 lead off the back of Sacha Washington. Washington scored nine straight and finished with 11 of her game high 33 in the first.
Salma Bates connected on back-to-back threes and a driving laying to give LA Tech (2-6) their only lead of the game at 13-11. After the first stanza, Roberson added four points to keep LA Tech close at 19-16.
Turnovers hurt the Lady Techsters in the second as the defense held the Commodores to 11 points. Bates connected on three free throws to tie the game up at 23 apiece midway through the quarter.
The third quarter was the difference in the game as Vanderbilt outscored LA Tech 24-15. The Lady Techsters contained Washington, but other players stepped up and were 9-17 from the floor, including four 3-pointers.
“I think we improved in some areas we worked on the last couple of days, moving the basketball,” said Stoehr. “We moved the ball well in the first half and didn’t knock down some open shots. We held on to the ball too much in the first four and a half minutes to start the third quarter. We didn’t move it, and we missed some open looks. That was a separator for us.”
Roberson started to take over for the Lady Techsters and accounted for 10 of LA Tech’s 12 points that spanned the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth. She would finish with 12 points in the fourth and 21 in the second half.
