Lady Toppers hold off Lady Techsters, 85-75

RUSTON – Louisiana Tech battled for all 40 minutes but was unable to come away with a victory on Thursday evening, falling 84-75 to Western Kentucky in front of 1,427 in the Thomas Assembly Center.

Grayson Bright led the Lady Techsters with 25 points on 11-15 shooting, including a 3-4 day from beyond the arc. Amber Dixon added 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Five Lady Toppers scored in double figures with Whitney Creech pouring in a team-high 21 points.

WKU opened the game on a 12-2 run in which all 5 Lady Topper starters scored. By the end of the first quarter, WKU lead 23-11 thanks to 6 points apiece from Raneem Eldhedawy, Alexis Brewer, and Dee Givens.

Tech bounced back in the second quarter. Down 15, Dixon lead the Lady Techsters on a 17-0 run that gave Tech a two-point lead. Dixon scored all seven of her first half points during the run, which was punctuated with a Bright triple that gave Tech a 33-31 lead.

The two teams battled throughout the third quarter before WKU pulled away in the fourth. The Lady Toppers took a 67-62 lead after a three-pointer from Whitney Creech and didn’t trail the rest of the way.

Tech cut the lead to 73-71 on a top-of-the-arc three from Bright, but WKU responded with back-to-back buckets to essentially put the game away.

The Lady Techsters shot 48% from the floor and 47% from downtown. Tech was finished 81% of its opportunities at the free throw line

The Lady Techsters return to action on Saturday when they host Marshall. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Bill Hazen and Katie Hall calling the action.