Lady Techsters cruise by Abilene Christian 66-49

ABILENE, Texas – 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.

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.

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.

QUOTABLES

Head coach Brooke Stoehr
“It started for us on the defensive end. 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.”

“We moved the ball well. 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.”

“The disappointing thing is we gave up 18 offensive rebounds, and I’m frustrated with that. That happens sometimes when you get spread out, but we’ve got to clean that up. Fortunately for us, it didn’t hurt us tonight. Those are the ones in conference play that you can’t give up. I am proud of our effort. You never know how they’re going to come out after having a break. We picked up where we left off going into Christmas, so I’m proud of that, but it puts a good bow on 2023, and there’s a lot that we’d like to leave in 2023. This is a life lesson. We could easily have put our heads down and gotten into little pockets of clicks, having lost the games that we lost in a row. But we didn’t, and they didn’t, and that’s a credit to them. We try to stay positive with them and continue to teach, grow, and encourage them, and we kept telling them it’s going to come.”

NOTABLES
• LA Tech moved to 1-0 against Abilene Christian.
• Anna Larr Roberson moved into No. 27 on the all-time scoring list with 1,422 points.
• Amaya Brannon had a season-high 17 points, one off her career high.
• The 23 points off turnovers were the fourth time with 20+ and the 11th with 10+.
• The Lady Techsters have made five or more three-pointers in 10 games this season.
• Salma Bates has scored in double figures for the seventh time in the last eight games and 12 games total.
• The Lady Techsters have forced eight opponents into 15+ turnovers and 14 opponents into 10+.
• The 32 points in the paint is the third time with 30 or more in a game and the eighth time with 25 or more.

UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters will open conference play at home on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 2 p.m. CT against Sam Houston. The game will be live on ESPN+ and KNBB 97.7 FM/LA Tech Athletics app.

LADY TECHSTER 50TH REUNION
Louisiana Tech is celebrating the 50th season of Lady Techster basketball. All former Lady Techster coaches, players, and staff are invited to the celebration held during the CUSA home opener against Sam Houston on Jan. 6, 2024. A reception will be held on Friday, Jan. 5, and formal recognition will be during the game.

RSVP at www.latechalumni.org/Techsters50th.

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