Techsters stifle Central Baptist to open hoops season

RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech women’s basketball team used a big second half in the 2022-23 season opener defeating Central Baptist 86-30 inside the Thomas Assembly Center to move to 1-0.

Both teams struggled to score in the early going, combining 5-18 from the field, but Amaya Brannon got the Techsters on the board with a pull up jumper and Silvia Nativi hit the first three of the season to give LA Tech an 11-4 edge after one.

In the second quarter, Tech was able to turn defense into offense to find a rhythm using a 21-2 run over a six-minute period to take a 33-12 lead into halftime.

Kate Thompson got the team going with five quick points along with back-to-back jumpers from Brannon. Brannon finished the night with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Techsters pushed the lead to 45-18 with a 10-2 from 7:12-4:48 in the third thanks to 11 bench points, including five from sophomore Mackenzie Wurm. LA Tech finished the quarter 25-12 to take a 58-24 lead into the fourth.

In the final ten minutes, Tech used the full depth of its bench, with freshmen Ayen Angoi and Anja Bukvic getting the first minutes of their careers. Angoi, Bukvic and Autumn Smith combined for a 13-4 run to end the game capping off a 53-point second half.

Keiunna Walker had a team-high 17 points on 7-15 shooting, and was joined in double figures by Anna Larr Roberson (11 points, six rebounds), Silvia Nativi (10 points, six rebounds, seven assists), and Robyn Lee with 11 points off the bench.

Defensively, Tech held the Mustangs to just 9-50 shooting (.180) and 1-19 from three (.053). After the slow start, Tech finished the night 34-67 (.507), although just 3-16 from deep. Last year’s No. 1 free-throw shooting team in C-USA hit 15-20 (.750) from the line.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr…
“It was great to be back in the TAC in front of our fans. I thought we did some nice things once we got settled in against the zone. It was great to get everyone minutes tonight and live game action. We were able to turn them over and create some offense early in the 2nd quarter to get us going.

Sal and Sil were solid with 12 assists and only one turnover. Anytime your poing guards do that it’s going to help your offense tremendously.

I thought Kate and Wurm were solid for us off the bench and Robyn provided a good spark for us. We obviously have some things to clean up heading into Thursday’s game against a very solid Arkansas State team, but it’s always great to get a win in that first game in front of your fans.”

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86
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CBU 4 8 12 6 30
LATech 11 22 25 28 86
Game Recap: Women’s Basketball | 11/7/2022 8:31:00 PM | Kyle Kavanaugh

Techsters Open Season in Dominant Fashion
Brooke Stoehr now 6-1 in LA Tech season openers
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FINAL STATS (PDF)
RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech women’s basketball team used a big second half in the 2022-23 season opener defeating Central Baptist 86-30 inside the Thomas Assembly Center to move to 1-0.

Both teams struggled to score in the early going, combining 5-18 from the field, but Amaya Brannon got the Techsters on the board with a pull up jumper and Silvia Nativi hit the first three of the season to give LA Tech an 11-4 edge after one.

In the second quarter, Tech was able to turn defense into offense to find a rhythm using a 21-2 run over a six-minute period to take a 33-12 lead into halftime.

Kate Thompson got the team going with five quick points along with back-to-back jumpers from Brannon. Brannon finished the night with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Techsters pushed the lead to 45-18 with a 10-2 from 7:12-4:48 in the third thanks to 11 bench points, including five from sophomore Mackenzie Wurm. LA Tech finished the quarter 25-12 to take a 58-24 lead into the fourth.

In the final ten minutes, Tech used the full depth of its bench, with freshmen Ayen Angoi and Anja Bukvic getting the first minutes of their careers. Angoi, Bukvic and Autumn Smith combined for a 13-4 run to end the game capping off a 53-point second half.

Keiunna Walker had a team-high 17 points on 7-15 shooting, and was joined in double figures by Anna Larr Roberson (11 points, six rebounds), Silvia Nativi (10 points, six rebounds, seven assists), and Robyn Lee with 11 points off the bench.

Defensively, Tech held the Mustangs to just 9-50 shooting (.180) and 1-19 from three (.053). After the slow start, Tech finished the night 34-67 (.507), although just 3-16 from deep. Last year’s No. 1 free-throw shooting team in C-USA hit 15-20 (.750) from the line.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr…
“It was great to be back in the TAC in front of our fans. I thought we did some nice things once we got settled in against the zone. It was great to get everyone minutes tonight and live game action. We were able to turn them over and create some offense early in the 2nd quarter to get us going.

Sal and Sil were solid with 12 assists and only one turnover. Anytime your poing guards do that it’s going to help your offense tremendously.

I thought Kate and Wurm were solid for us off the bench and Robyn provided a good spark for us. We obviously have some things to clean up heading into Thursday’s game against a very solid Arkansas State team, but it’s always great to get a win in that first game in front of your fans.”

NOTABLES
• LA Tech is now 1-0 against Central Baptist, taking the first-ever matchup in the series.
• Coach Stoehr is now 6-1 in season openers at LA Tech, winning six straight.
• The 56-point margin is the most in this six games.
• Keiunna Walker is now No. 26 on the all-time scoring list, moving past Monica Maxwell, with 1,420 career points.
• Walker took charge No. 125 of her career.
• Anna Larr Roberson had her 50th career game in double figures, she is now 38 points away from 1,000 career points.
• Silvia Nativi tied a career-high with seven assists.
• Tech’s defense forced 21 turnovers, the 109th time since 2010.
• Gabbie Green, Ayen Angoi, Anja Bukvic all made their LA Tech debuts tonight.

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