NORMAL, Ill. — Louisiana Tech’s season came to an end as the Lady Techsters fell to Illinois State 78-70 in the Great 8 of the WNIT on Monday night inside CEFCU Arena.
“Hats off to these fans,” Lady Techster head coach Brooke Stoehr said. “It provided an excellent environment for these two quality teams to compete in the Great 8. They got into it there in that fourth-quarter run that they made, but I am really proud of our group for battling. We played without our starting point guard all postseason, and our group just stepped up and continued to find ways. We needed to keep them to 65 to have a chance, and I thought we scored the ball well.”
“We had some turnovers to start that fourth quarter. They go on a 10-2 run, and we have to call a timeout. That little spurt they had there was the difference in the game. They put so much pressure on you the way they shoot the ball and push the ball in transition well. Aside from that second quarter, we did a great job defensively of slowing them in transition. We shot the ball extremely well. We needed a bit more defensively there that fourth quarter to give ourselves a chance down the stretch.”
Louisiana Tech (18-16) opened the game on a 7-0 run. Paris Bradley picked off an Illinois State (24-12) pass at midcourt and found Isla Airey for the game’s first basket. Jordan Marshall forced another Redbird turnover, and Robyn Lee hit three to make it 5-0 two minutes in. Marshall would convert on Tech’s next possession to cap off the run to start the game.
Illinois State connected on a 3-pointer on each of their next three possessions to make it 11-9. Bradley would her a triple of her own and then find Marshall on a fastbreak to push the lead back out to seven. LA Tech would hold a 21-15 advantage after one.
The Techsters looked to take control early in the second. After the Redbirds cut it to 23-20, Marshal, Lee and Bradley combined for seven straight points to give Tech a 10-point advantage. However, the offense would go cold for the remainder of the half. Illinois State would go on an 18-1 run to take a 38-31 lead into the locker room.
Looking to make another third-quarter run, Louisiana Tech quickly cut the lead in half. Airey used her height advantage down low to score, and Lee corralled an offensive board on the next possession to make it 38-35.
With the home team holding a 45-41 advantage halfway through the third, Bradley grabbed the loose ball and raced down the court to make it a two-point game. Airey rejected the next Redbird shot, and Sydney Thomas hit a jumper from the elbow on the other end to make it a tie ballgame.
After Illinois State regained the lead on the next possession, Averi Aaron hit a triple to give the Techsters back the lead. The Redbirds hit a triple of their own and held a 51-50 lead after three.
Louisiana Tech’s offense once again went cold to open the fourth. Bradley’s basket at the 8:48 mark was the Techsters’ only bucket in the first four minutes of the final stanza. During that time, Illinois State used a 13-2 run to hold a 64-52 lead.
That deficit would be too much for Tech to overcome, as the two teams traded baskets the rest of the way.
Louisiana Tech shot 52.9 percent for the game (27-51), 46.7 from behind the arc (7-15), and 81.8 percent from the line (9-11). Bradley led the way with 18 points on 7-12 shooting. Marshall and Aaron finished with 14 points apiece. Marshall also had a game-high eight boards.
Illinois State finished 58.3 percent for the game (28-48), 57.1 from deep (12-21), but just 58.8 from the charity stripe (10-17). Elyce Knudsen led the way with 21 points, including 5-7 from long range. Nevaeh Thomas had 16, Maya Wong finished at 15 and Shannon Dowell added 10 for the Redbirds.
