MOBILE, Ala. — Louisiana Tech started the season with their second straight Education Game, this time on the road. The Lady Techsters used that experience and didn’t let the crowd noise rattle them as they came from behind to beat South Alabama 78-70 inside the Mitchell Center on Thursday morning.
Louisiana Tech (2-0) got layups by Robyn Lee and Paris Bradley before a triple by Jianna Morris put them up 7-5 early in the contest. South Alabama (1-1) responded with a 10-0 run to take control just before the media timeout. Out of that timeout, the Lady Techsters Lee knocked down her first 3-pointer of the year to ignite a six-point run to pull back within one. Melissa Mwanza beat the buzzer to cut the lead to 25-18 after one.
“Proud of our group today for coming on the road and getting a win in a loud environment,” Techster head coach Brooke Stoehr said. “They showed some composure and toughness overcoming our first quarter defense. We challenged them to be more active and aggressive defensively, and I thought they responded well after that first 10:00. We attacked offensively and got to the free throw line. We have to do a better job of converting on those trips to the line. We’re leaving too many points out there.
“We were able to settle in and get stops and get out in transition. There was solid improvement in our ball movement and recognition from game one to today. We need to continue to make improvements and grow each day with this group. I thought they grew up a little on the road today.”
The Lady Techsters carried that momentum over to the second quarter and limited the Jaguars to just 10 points on 3-12 shooting and eight turnovers. Tech did most of their damage at the free-throw line, hitting 8-12 to go along with four baskets to tie it up at 35 all heading into halftime.
South Alabama struck first in the third, with Daniela Gonzalez scoring the first seven points for the Jaguars to give them a 42-38 lead. The Lady Techsters went to work in the paint and reeled off six straight to take the lead heading into the media timeout. USA Regained the lead at 47-44 at the 6:30 mark before Morris and Lee took over for Tech. The duo combined for nine of the Techsters’ final 16 points in the third to put LA Tech up 60-52 going into the final stanza.
The Lady Techsters used as much of the clock as possible before attacking the basket and getting to the charity stripe. Tech extended the lead to double-digits on multiple occasions before settling for the final margin of eight.
Jianna Morris led the Lady Techsters in scoring again with another career-high of 20 points. Robyn Lee added 18, while Jordan Marshall had 13 and seven rebounds. Isla Airey had three of the five blocks by Tech on the day.
Michiyah Simmons had nine points in the fourth to give her 16 for the game for South Alabama. Daniela Gonzalez, Amyria Walker, and Jordan Rosier contributed 11 points apiece.
