Techsters season comes to an end in WNIT at Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. | Louisiana Tech women’s basketball fell to Arkansas in the opening round of the WNIT, 69-47, in Fayetteville, Ark., Thursday night to close the 2022-23 season. Tech finished with 19-13 overall.

In the first, LA Tech got off to an extremely cold start going just 1-15 from the field and found themselves in a quick 15-3 hole despite holding Arkansas to 5-15 shooting in the first.

Down 16 early in the second (19-3), Tech put together an 8-0 run to cut Arkansas’ lead to seven (24-17) with 4:58 left in the half. The Razorbacks promptly responded with a 9-0 run of their own, but Tech finished the final two minutes plus two to take the game into halftime at 35-21.

Tech started the third quarter with a 6-0 run and extended spurt to double the Razorbacks 14-7 over the first seven minutes of the period to cut the lead in half (42-35). Arkansas finished the stanza on a mini 6-2 run to take a 48-37 lead into the fourth.

Arkansas continued to fight off each of Tech’s advances and used an 11-3 start to the fourth to extend the lead back to 19 (59-40). Despite Tech’s continued fight, they could threaten Arkansas down the stretch, and both teams emptied their benches.

Keiunna Walker led Tech in scoring with 16 points, grabbing six rebounds, and became the No. 6 all-time scorer in program history. It was Walker’s 103rd career double-figure game and 26th game in a row. She finishes her LA Tech career with 1,975 career points.

Anna Larr Roberson added 10 points and nine rebounds. Silvia Nativi grabbed a season-high nine rebounds.
Keiunna Walker has checked out for the last time as a Techster.

Take your bow Kei. pic.twitter.com/EmbOdAca4f
– Lady Techsters (@LATechWBB) March 17, 2023

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr…
“I’m extremely proud of our team and their fight tonight. We were not good early on offense and dug too big of a hole, but we did a great job fighting back. It’s never easy when a season comes to a close. We dealt with a lot this season. We learned a lot and grew a ton. I’m proud of every one of our players and thankful for everything they have given our program this season.”

NOTABLES
LA Tech moves to 3-1 in the all-time series and 1-1 in Fayetteville.
Tech falls to 1-5 all-time in the WNIT.
Tech outrebounded Arkansas 46-42, making it the first loss of the season when outrebounding opponents.
Keiunna Walker scored double figures for the 26th straight game with a team-high 16. Walker finishes her career the No. 6 on the all-time scoring list, passing Sheila Ethridge and Vickie Johnson with 1,975. Walker also drew her 51st and 52nd charges of the season.
Anna Larr Roberson reached double figures for the 16th time this season with 10 points.
Salma Bates registered her 300th career assist.
Silvia Nativi grabbed a season-high ten rebounds and added two blocks.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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