Offensive explosion leads Lady Techsters to 85-69 win over Miners

RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech women’s basketball team shot over 53 percent from the field on their way to a wire-to-wire 85-69 win over UTEP on Thursday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center.

LA Tech (10-17, 4-8 CUSA) opened the game, knocking down four of their first five shots to race out to a 10-5 lead at the first media timeout. UTEP (9-16, 4-8) would close the gap to two at 15-13, but the Lady Techsters would take a 19-15 lead into the second quarter.

Tech separated themselves with a 7-0 run in a 1:15 span early in the quarter. However, the Miners responded with an 8-0 run of their own to cut the Techster lead back down 28-24. Consecutive 3-pointers by Paris Guillory and Salma Bates, followed by a basket right before the buzzer by Anna Larr Roberson, gave Tech the 43-32 advantage heading into the locker room.

The third quarter was a high-scoring affair, with both teams trading baskets the majority of the way through. After back-to-back triples by Ivane Tensaie of the Miners cut the lead down to six, it looked like UTEP would grab momentum heading into the final stanza.

Tensaie would miss a layup, and Amaya Brannon worked to grab the rebound with six seconds remaining. Brannon pushed the ball up the court and found Jianna Morris just before half-court. Morris took two dribbles, pulled up from 40 feet, and nailed the shot as the buzzer sounded, pushing the Tech lead back to nine.

The teams traded points for the first half of the fourth before the Lady Techsters closed the game on a 10-3 run.

Louisiana Tech shot a season-best 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field, including 50 percent (7-of-14) from deep and 83.3 percent (20-24) from the line. UTEP finished at 49.0 percent (25-of-51) and 40.0 percent (6-15) from three but just 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from the charity stripe.

Roberson led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Bates chipped in 17 points with six assists and zero turnovers in 35 minutes of action. Morris was the other Lady Techster in double figures with 10 points and no turnovers in 34 minutes.

Jane Asinde was one of three Miners in double figures with 19 and added nine boards. Tensaie and Mariama Sow were the others, with 17 and 12, respectively.

QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr

“I thought we played a very complete game tonight. I am proud of their focus and the way they played together. We were solid offensively and it started with the way valued possession and moved the ball for easy shots. We defended well and hung in there on the boards against their big lineup. Jianna and Salma were outstanding with a combined zero turnovers and the way they attacked offensively for us. The 42 paint points were huge for us. Anna Larr had a very efficient night with limited minutes. We had valuable production from our bench. Kate and Amaya gave us some big minutes down the stretch on both ends of the floor. It was a total team effort. We’ll get back to wrok tomorrow and prepare for New Mexico State to come in on Saturday.”

NOTABLES
• Louisiana Tech improved to 17-12 all-time against UTEP.
• Anna Larr Roberson became the 13th Lady Techster with 1,500 points and 900 rebounds.
• Roberson moved into No. 20 on the all-time scoring list with 1,582 points, passing Lori Scott and Trina Frierson.
• Tech hit five or more three-pointers for the 20th time this season, 11th game with 7+.
• The Lady Techsters have knocked down 167 threes on the season, the fourth most in program history.
• Tech has forced 15 or more turnovers in 15 games this season.
• Tech’s bench scored 24 points, the 14th time with 20 or more.

UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech will return to the TAC on Saturday, Feb. 24, against New Mexico State at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

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