Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech picked up their fourth straight win and third by double-digits by taking down Abilene Christian 66-49 at Moody Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Louisiana Tech (6-9) held one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country to just 4-22 from behind the arc. Abilene Christian (5-6) came in averaging nine 3s a game.
“It started for us on the defensive end,” said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. “Robyn Lee got a deflection early, and that set the tone. We gave up 49 to a team that can score it, and they can spread it out. They’ve put up good numbers against good teams. They shoot it well at home. I was concerned about the three-point line. We defended that well. They hit one late; they were three of 21 up to that point. I’m just really proud of our defensive effort.”
The Lady Techsters shot lights out in the first, finishing 75 percent from the field. Tech made four of their first five shots to jump to a quick 10-2 lead just over four minutes into the game. The lead would grow to 21-8 before back-to-back three-pointers by Abilene Christian closed the gap.
The Lady Techsters looked to be in control early into the second quarter. Starting the stanza with a three by Amaya Brannon and Autumn Smith, the Lady Techsters’ lead grew to 17 at 21-14 halfway through. ACU would make an 11-point run and force Tech to call a timeout. LA Tech would close the half on a 7-0 run and lead 38-25 at the half.
Tech would cruise in the second half, increasing their lead to as much as 23 midway through the fourth.
Four Lady Techsters finished in double-figure scoring, led by Brannon with 17. Roberson had 14, followed by Salma Bates and Jianna Morris with 10. Morris finished with five rebounds, and Silvia Nativi had a game-high seven assists.
“We moved the ball well,” said Stoehr. “When you look up and put up the offensive numbers that we did, 52 percent from the field, 46 from three, and 71 from the free throw line, but 22 assists on 27 made field goals. This group is figuring it out by sharing the basketball and moving it to get easy shots. We did it against the man. They went to the zone. We did it against the zone. It was an excellent, solid outing for us.”
Abilene Christian finished shooting 37 percent from the field. Addison Martin led the Wildcats with 16 points. Bella Earle and Clare Traeger finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.
