Lady Techsters take battle in Birmingham, 58-52

Birmingham, Ala. – Louisiana Tech used a total team effort and timely baskets to come away from Birmingham, Ala. with a 58-52 road conference USA win over the UAB Blazers inside Bartow Arena on Saturday.

The Lady Techsters improve to 10-7 overall and now 2-4 in conference play by taking down the top team in the West. UAB falls to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in C-USA.

The back-to-back wins puts LA Tech right back in the thick of things in conference USA’s West division race.

Both teams started the afternoon game cold from the floor. LA Tech started just 1-14 from the field over the first seven minutes, but fortunately for the Techsters, UAB didn’t fare much better starting only 1-10 from the field.

Tech found themselves down 8-4 with 2:30 left in the first quarter when a Salma Bates three-pointer kick started the Techsters offense. Freshmen Kate Thompson and Amaya Brannon added buckets to help the Techsters close the first quarter on a 7-0 run and take a 13-8 lead into the first intermission.

LA Tech found more of a rhythm in the second quarter scoring on five of their next six attempts to extend the lead to 26-18 with 2:23 left in the first half, including six quick points from junior Keiunna Walker who finished with a game high 20 points.

Walker has now scored in double figures 18 straight games and reached the 20-point mark for the fourth time. She also moved into 39th on the all-time Lady Techsters scoring list with 1,072 points. Walker also finished with a season-tying best six rebounds and added four assists.

In the final minutes of the half, Bates added another score to give the Techsters a seven-point cushion at the break (28-21).

The Lady Techsters shot just 36 percent from the field at the half due to the slow start, but connected on two of their three three-point attempts and made all six of their free-throws. Tech once again used a great defensive effort holding the Blazers to just 28% shooting in the half and forced 10 turnovers.

Sophomore Anna Larr Roberson, the conference’s leader in free-throw percentage at 85 percent, connected on two attempts to start the second half for the Techsters. Roberson has now made 19 straight free throws.

Bates added another three-throw nearly four minutes into the quarter but Tech did not score from the field until Walker hit a jumper with 5:26 left in the quarter.

Tech and UAB finished the third stanza exchanging punches but the combination of Walker, Roberson, and Thompson helped maintain a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter (42-38).

The final 10 minutes was marked by big play after big play by Techsters. Clinging to a four-point lead, Tech was able to generate offense from defense. Sophomore Lotte Sant nailed a three-pointer in transition off a great pass from Bates which was created off a Brannon steal. The shot put the Techsters up 47-40 with 8:34 to play.

UAB responded with a 4-0 run of their own to cut the lead to three, but Tech answered right back with a 9-0 over the next 2:30. Thompson began the run off a beautifully designed out of bounds play which led to a wide-open layup.

Thompson and Roberson both hit jumpers on the next two possessions followed by Bates finding freshman Robyn Lee in the corner for a three. Lee was found wide open off another out of bounds set who drilled the attempt extending the Techsters lead to 56-44 with 3:59 to play.

UAB continued to battle using an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead to four when Brannon finished a put-back effort off a Walker miss to seal the 58-52 road win the Techsters.

Thompson and Roberson each finished the game with 10 points. It is the fourth time Thompson has reached double figures and the 14th time for Roberson this season. Bates added six points, five rebounds, and three assists while Brannon contributed six points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Against the league’s best rebounding team, Tech held their own only finishing the night just minus four (40-36). UAB outscored the Techsters 18-10 in second chance points, but Tech made up that deficit outscoring the Blazers 17-9 in points off turnovers.

NOTABLES
• LA Tech improves to 8-6 in the all-time series against UAB and improves to 6-1 in games played in Birmingham.
• Tech improves to 2-4 in conference USA play.
• Keiunna Walker scored a game-high 20 points in the win. It was her fourth 20-point game this season.
• Walker has scored in double-figures in 18 straight games and is one of three players in C-USA to have scored in double-figures in every game this season (Savannah Wheeler- Marshall and Zakyia Weathersby – UAB).
• Walker moved from 41st into 39th on the all-time scoring list with 1,072 career points passing both LaQuan Stallworth and Danielle Whitehurst.
• Walker also tied a season high with six rebounds.
• Anna Larr Roberson had her 10th straight game in double-figures and 14th game in double-figures this season contributing 10 points.
• Roberson has now made 19 straight three-throw attempts and leads the conference in free-throw percentage at 85 percent.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr…
“I was really proud of this team’s grit and toughness today. We got off to a slow start offensively but defended well and kept battling until we could get our scoring going. We had balance today and got some huge contributions off the bench in some big moments. We were able to get stops at key times and answered offensively each time UAB made a run. It was a great team effort to get an important road conference win.”

UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters begin a two-game road swing in Texas next Thursday and Saturday. LA Tech will travel to Houston on Thursday, January 27 to face the Rice Owls at 7 p.m. inside the Tudor Fieldhouse.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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