Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Robyn Lee and Jordan Marshall had double-doubles to lead Louisiana Tech to a 71-64 win over Texas Southern on Monday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
Both players finished with 19 points while Marshall had 14 rebounds and Lee finished with 11. Four other Lady Techsters (17-15) finished with seven or more points.
Tech played without starting point guard Jianna Morris, ruled out right before the game due to illness.
“I’m really proud of this group,” said head coach Brooke Stoehr. “Anytime you can get a meaningful win in March, and you’re still playing on March 24th, that’s a big deal. I’m really happy that this young group got a post-season win and proud of them. We played without our starting point guard. We’ve had the same starting lineup all year, and two hours before the game, we don’t have her.
“We had some people that stepped up. Sidney Thomas was tremendous defensively for us, hit a big three, and brought a lot of energy to our group. But especially these two (Jordan Marshall and Robyn Lee) on the boards, we had three and double figures rebounding.”
Isla Airey gave LA Tech the lead on the very first possession of the game. Texas Southern’s (17-16) defense held Tech without a field goal for nearly two minutes to grab a 6-4 lead. That is when Marshall and Lee took over. The duo combined for 10 points in a 12-2 run to close out the quarter, including a buzzer-beater by Marshall.
The Techsters extended the run to 20-4 early in the second. Lee stole the ball and raced down the court for a layup. On the very next possession, Lee took the ball away again and this time, Sydney Thomas finished at the rim and forced the Lady Tigers to call a timeout.
TSU responded with a 16-5 run of their own to pull within two before Marshall’s layup, which gave Tech a 31-27 lead heading into the locker room.
The visitors opened the third with five straight points to gain a 32-31 lead. That didn’t last long as Robyn Lee got to the rim to put Tech back into the lead.
While Marshall and Lee did the heavy lifting on the offensive end, Airey was a force down low. One of the top shot blockers in the nation showed why with four blocks in the third quarter.
With LA Tech holding on to a 49-45 lead heading into the final stanza, the Lady Techsters used scoring from six players to help close out the game. A 3-pointer by Sydney Thomas at the seven-minute mark put Tech up 58-50 and TSU would not get any closer than six the rest of the way.
Louisiana Tech shot 46.6 percent from the field (27-58) but just 20.0 percent from behind the arc (2-10) and 68.2 percent from the line (15-22). Paris Bradley had nine points and 10 rebounds, while Airey had nine points, six boards and five blocks. Averi Aaron had eight points and Thomas added seven for the Techsters.
Texas Southern finished 33.3 percent for the game (24-72), 20.0 percent from deep (4-20) and 75 from the charity stripe (12-16). Tech won the rebounding battle 51-32.
“We knew rebounding against them was going to be a huge factor,” said Stoehr. “We needed every one of those extra possessions from the rebounds and limiting their extra possessions because we turned it over.
“Not as clean and sharp with the basketball tonight as we needed to be. But it’s March, and you’re trying to survive in advance. I’m happy for this group to be able to play in front of a great crowd tonight, and hopefully another good one on Wednesday night.”
Aylasia Fantroy led the way with 16 points for the Lady Tigers. Jaida Belton had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. Daeja Holmes and Treasure Thompson were the other two in double figures at 11 and 10, respectively.
Louisiana Tech will host Lindenwood on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Super 16 of the postseason WNIT at the Thomas Assembly Center on ESPN+.
