Techsters fall to UTSA, 59-49

San Antonio, Texas – Louisiana Tech ended the Texas road trip in a split as they fell to UTSA Saturday afternoon inside the Convocation Center by a final score of 59-49.

Despite the Saturday loss, the Lady Techsters still sit just a game back of the C-USA West Division lead.

LA Tech (15-10, 7-7 C-USA) had to battle from behind most of the game but a 15-0 run during the third quarter saw Tech take their first lead of the night, 36-34, on a pair of Keiunna Walker free-throws with 2:08 remaining in the quarter.

Walker finished with a team-high 15 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Walker has scored in double figures in 26 straight games and is now the only conference USA to do so in every game this season.

Anna Larr Roberson also extended her double figures scoring streak to 18 games with 13 points. She also finished with five rebounds, two steals, and a block.

The Techsters extended their lead to start the fourth quarter (43-37) with 8:32 remaining in the game on an and-one from Amaya Brannon, but could not connect on another field goal, missing their final 13 shots from the field.

Brannon, the spark of the big third quarter, finished the game with 11 points, six rebounds, two steals, and drew a charge.

UTSA (6-19, 3-11 C-USA) responded with a 9-0 on three straight threes from Deborah Nwakamma, her only three makes of the night, to regain the lead with 5:15 to play (46-43).

The deficit remained at just three points (50-47) with 90 seconds to go, but two offensive put backs by UTSA stretched the lead out to seven.

UTSA, the best offensive rebounding team in the league, out rebounded Tech 50-26 on the night including 16 offensive boards for 12 second chance points.

Tech, the conference leader in free-throw percentage, also missed seven free-throws in the game.

Despite the great third quarter and late-game push, the combination of rebounding and cold shooting proved to be too much for the Techsters.

NOTABLES
• LA Tech now leads the all-time series over UTSA 15-6 and is 6-4 in games played in San Antonio. UTSA snapped a four-game losing streak to the Techsters.
• Keiunna Walker has now scored in double-figures in 26 straight games and is the only player in conference USA to score in double figures in every game this season.
• Walker drew her team-leading 30th charge on the season.
• Amaya Brannon scored in double figures for the seventh time this season. Brannon, 2nd on the team in charges, drew her 13th on the season.
• Anna Larr Roberson has now scored in double figures in 18 straight games.
• Tech’s defense forced another 21 turnovers making it the eighth time this season to do so.
• Tech was out rebounded 50-26, they are now just 3-9 when being out rebounded.
• Tech also falls to 1-8 when trailing at the half and 1-8 when scoring fewer than 60 points.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr…
“It was a tough day for us offensively. UTSA did a nice job defensively and on the boards. We needed to create some easy scoring opportunities and were unable to do so. I thought we battled hard to take the lead going into the fourth. We expended a lot of energy during that stretch and just weren’t able to sustain it and finish it out on the road. We’ll grow from this experience. We have to regroup and get ready to protect our home court this week.”

UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters return home for two games beginning with Rice on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. inside the Thomas Assembly Center.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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