Roberson’s big night, big plays, lift Techsters over Monarchs in Virginia

NORFOLK, Va. – Timely. Tough. Those words personified Louisiana Tech down the stretch tonight as they left Norfolk, Va. with a huge conference road win over Old Dominion inside the Chartway Arena (65-62) to keep their hold over the conference USA West division lead. The road win marked No. 400 in Lady Techsters’ history.

Louisiana Tech (18-10, 10-7 C-USA) got off an incredible start in the first quarter going 10-11 from the field to put up 22 points in the first stanza behind eight early points from Anna Larr Roberson to lead Old Dominion (22-7, 12-5 CUSA) 22-11 after ten minutes of play.

Coming off a career-high 44 points two games ago, Roberson finished the night with 31 points on 10-13 shooting, including 1-2 from three, and a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line. Roberson also added eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks on the night.

In the second quarter, the Monarchs responded in a big way with a furious 11-0 run while forcing five Techsters turnovers on their first five possessions to cut the lead to 22-20 with 7:34 left in the second quarter.

The next two-plus quarters were back-and-forth as the Techsters continued to make big play after big play.

Freshman Robyn Lee hit a corner jumper to tie the game at 52 with 7:50 to play in the game, but ODU quickly stretched the lead back to four.

The final eight minutes felt like a heavyweight fight with both teams exchanging blows and answering with one play after another in a game that saw seven ties and twelve lead changes down to the final minute.

An ODU layup with 25 seconds remaining moved the Monarchs back up one (63-62), but after a LA Tech timeout, Lee connected on contested a baseline-driving jumper with 10 seconds on the clock to move back ahead (64-63).

An Amaya Brannon steal on the ensuing possession plus two more Roberson free-throws clinched the win the Techsters.

Tech shot 59 percent from the floor on 23-39 shooting while ODU shot 41.8 percent on 23-55 for the game. ODU has held teams to a league-best 54.8 ppg and just 39.9 percent shooting on the year.

Robyn Lee (11 points) and Salma Bates (10 points) joined Roberson with double-digit efforts. Bates also tied a season-high with six assists.

NOTABLES
• LA Tech now leads the all-time series 18-10 and is 7-4 in games played in Norfolk.
•The win marked the 400th road win for the Techsters in their program history. Earlier this season, they also won their 500th game in the Thomas Assembly Center on Feb. 7 over UTEP.
•Tech has won eight of their last 10 games including three in a row.
• Keiunna Walker finished with six points, breaking her 28-game double figures scoring streak. Her 27 straight games to start the season is the most since Kierra Anthony in 2019.
• Anna Larr Roberson’s 31 points is the second-highest of her career.
• Salma Bates scored in double figures for the ninth time this season.
• Robyn scored in double figures for the fifth time this season.
• Amaya Brannon took three charges on the night and now has 16 taken on the year.
• Tech is now 17-2 when scoring 60 or more points in a game.
• LA Tech is now 12-1 when outrebounding their opponents this season.
• Techsters won for just the second time this season when trailing at the half and the second time this year when trailing after three quarters.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr…
“I’m incredibly proud of the grit and toughness this team showed tonight in a difficult environment. It is March and tonight had a tournament feel to it. They battled through some adversity with foul trouble to Keiunna and we had people step up in a big way. Our bench was big and we got solid contributions from everyone. Robyn Lee was clutch for us with a huge defensive board and baseline jumper that gave us the lead.

Anna Larr was tremendous and battled all night long for us. Amaya played some great defense and took three charges. Sal was super steady all night facing a lot of pressure and scored a couple of big baskets to keep us in it when they made their runs. Everyone stepped up and gave a little bit more. I love coaching this group because they just keep fighting for each other and are so much fun to be around every day. We say all the time, that great teams have great teammates, and we have a group of great teammates. Tonight this group took a big step in growing up on the road. We have to finish it on Saturday against a very good UAB team and need a great crowd in the TAC to help us protect our home court.”

UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters return home for their final regular-season home game to face UAB inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 2:00 p.m.

Saturday’s promotions will be Pack the TAC and recognize the program’s seniors.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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