Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Lady Techsters 74, FIU 59 (Saturday in Miami)
First place Louisiana Tech snapped the Panthers four-game win streak in Ocean Bank Convocation Center Saturday afternoon, 74-59 to finish off a two-game road sweep.
“I cannot say enough about the energy we had, especially on such a long trip,” said head coach Brooke Stoehr. “I thought we were locked in from the tip, especially with our third quarter defense. We challenged them at halftime and were able to keep their top scorers out of the game and forced them to turn it over.
“We needed a solid team defensive effort and I thought we got that tonight. We got some huge minutes off the bench from KT, Isla, and Joy that gave us a lot of momentum.”
The Lady Techsters jumped ahead with a 13-4 run into the first media, making five of their last seven shots. Seven LA Tech players poured into the scoring effort, giving Louisiana Tech a 19-12 lead heading into the second quarter. Sixteen of their 19 points came from the paint, only making one three. Paris Bradley dished a team high three assists while Jordan Marshall grabbed four boards.
FIU fought back in the second, closing the gap to 23-19 midway through the quarter. Kaleigh Thompson would offer Louisiana Tech some cushion, scoring back to back tough layups to get the lead back to eight. The Panthers hunted from then on, closing the gap to one two separate times in the closing minutes. Bradley’s second chance layup would close the scoring for the quarter, giving LA Tech a 35-32 lead heading into the locker rooms. Louisiana Tech only shot one free throw to FIU’s eight.
Louisiana Tech jumped out again, scoring the first four points of the quarter, but FIU stayed within striking distance, getting the score back to only a four point LA Tech lead heading into the first media timeout. Isla Airey’s and-one sparked a 5-0 run and another Bradley and-one ran the score up to 48-36, the largest lead of the game. Thompson’s last second layup closes the quarter 55-41, the largest lead of the game. Airey scored a quarter high eight points in only four minutes.
LA Tech used the fourth quarter to keep the lead safe, ballooning it up to 20 midway through the quarter with a Morris three. Morris would pour in two more late, giving her nine points in the frame. The final minute would see now more scoring, ending in a 74-59 Lady Techsters victory.
The Lady Techsters defense held the top two scorers in the league in Atkins and Collins to 14 and 9 respectively. Thompson led Louisiana Tech in scoring and rebounding with 16 and eight. Joy Madison-Key dished out eight assists, the most by a Lady Techster this season.
This is the first time the Lady Techsters have won six games in a row during conference play since 2017.
The Lady Techsters return home to face Kennesaw State at the TAC on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.
“We have a big week next week and need two big crowds in the TAC,” said Stoehr. “This group is really fun to get to be around every day and are starting to come together, we need everyone to get behind them and give them a great home court advantage. We will enjoy this one and then figure out how we are going to get back to Ruston.”
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Bulldogs 82, Kennesaw State 76 (Ruston on Friday)
Louisiana Tech staged yet another comeback Friday afternoon, erasing a 12-point deficit in the second half to defeat Kennesaw State 82-76 inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
LA Tech (11-8, 4-4 CUSA) outscored KSU (12-8, 4-5 CUSA) 46-31 after the break, riding a combined 48-point performance from Scooter Williams and DJ Dudley.
“I do not like doing it like this, but I will take it,” said head coach Talvin Hester. “We have talked about getting off to a better start. Maybe I am learning that this team needs time. We are steadily fighting to understand why we get off to slow starts.
“I did not think we started that slow in this one, but at the end of the first half we turned the ball over quite a bit and gave [Kennesaw State] some easy baskets and some cushion. We took care of the ball in the second half, and we guarded the ball. We were getting driven on in the first half. We also rebounded and were able to make shots.”
Williams poured in a game-high 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting, adding four rebounds and six drawn fouls (went 7-of-9 from the free-throw line) while Dudley, despite missing the last 11 minutes of the contest due to injury, contributed 20 points to help anchor the Bulldog backcourt.
LA Tech did not start out slowly, as has been the case here recently. In fact, the Bulldogs held a 24-22 advantage 11 minutes into the game. However, a stretch of turnovers allowed the Owls to go on a 12-2 run to build some cushion and ultimately take a 45-36 lead into the locker room.
KSU, which came in averaging 88 points per game, showed its offensive prowess throughout the first stanza by making 16 of its 24 field goal attempts. After Frankquon Sherman tacked on a layup at the 19:07 mark of the second half, KSU had built its largest lead at 48-36.
Then came the Dudley-Williams show.
The duo combined for LA Tech’s first 17 points of the stanza, needing less than four minutes to do it, as the scoring pulled the Bulldogs to within one at 54-53. The game would get knotted up for the fifth time at 60-all, then the home team proceeded to go on a 7-1 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Williams.
“(Williams) had an unbelievable week of practice,” said Hester. “He was hitting everything. It looked exactly like it did in practice. He was making shots. To his credit, it started by him getting some steals on the defensive end. After that, I thought it was my job to get the ball in his hands. He is a big, strong guard. I wanted to call as many plays for him as much as I could.”
While KSU’s offense was shut down in the second half (shot 24.1 percent), the Owls were adding to the scoreboard by getting to the foul line. They made five straight, slicing their deficit down to one with 6:51 to play, but AJ Bates’ converted layup and a made free throw by Avery Thomas II.
The Owls’ lone three-pointer of the second half got their deficit back to one again at 70-69 at the 5:20 mark, but Thomas II countered with a three of his own in front of the team bench to start a 9-1 run that sealed the victory.
LA Tech had one of its best offensive performances of the season, shooting 52.7 percent from the field (29-of-55) and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-16). Along with the scoring of Williams and Dudley, Bates and Thomas II each added 10 points apiece.
KSU was led by Sherman who had 20 points. Leading scorer RJ Johnson, who had scored 30-plus points in each of the last two games, was held to just one point.
