RUSTON – The Lady Techsters got off to a fast start against SMU, but one quarter continues to plague them in a 69-53 loss Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
“We got off to a great start offensively that first quarter and then thought we had some empty possessions towards the end after we got out to a lead,” Lady Techster head coach Brooke Stoehr said. “We had some questionable shots that led to some transition that got them going offensively. We were solid defensively to start; a lot was due to our shot selection and taking care of the ball. It allowed us to get back in defensive transition and get our defense set. Tiara Young is a dynamic scorer, and you’ve got to make sure that you limit her touches and have your whole team back to defend as five. We should have valued the basketball more, and that’s been the thing with this group: we can’t turn the ball over 18 times and expect to win a basketball game. It puts so much pressure on you defensively because you can’t defend transition layups, and this group’s got to figure it out. We had some good effort. Robin Lee on the boards was big.
“We are playing hard. We’ve got to play smart and play winning basketball at critical times. That’s taking care of the basketball, good shot selection, and communicating on the defensive end of the floor.”
Anna Larr Roberson connected from deep to start the scoring from the LA Tech (2-9). Salma Bates and Kate Thompson followed with buckets inside the paint to give Tech seven points before SMU (4-5) scored their first points of the game. The Mustangs made a run in the final four minutes of the quarter to take a 16-15 advantage.
Both teams struggled from the floor in the second stanza, combining to shoot just 8-27.
Third-quarter woes continued to plague the Lady Techsters. Tech made just one shot from the field but got to the free-throw line 11 times to finish with nine points in the quarter.
Roberson and Lee would try to pull the Techsters back in, but it would be too late.
Lee finished with her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Roberson finished with career double-double No. 21 with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Amaya Brannon returned to the court for the first time in over 300 days and finished with eight points.
“We are proud to see her out there,” Stoehr said of Brannon. “She’s worked really hard. Our medical staff has done a great job of getting her back, and it’s been a long time coming for her. She brings experience, consistency, effort, a high motor, versatility at the four for us, and just being able to do some of those things. She’s a little rusty, but she’ll get back in the flow, and it’s nice to have her back out there. Having our whole group back will be nice when we get Paris (Guillory) and (Mackenzie) Wurm back.”
SMU fished shooting 43 percent from the field (26-60), with 19 points from Tiara Young and 16 from Amirah Abdur-Rahim.
The Lady Techsters continue a stretch of three games in five days when Alcorn State comes to Ruston on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. CT. The game will be live on ESPN+ and KNBB 97.7 FM/LA Tech Athletics App.
