Walker, Roberson lead Techsters to win over Jackson State

RUSTON, La. – Keiunna Walker and Anna Larr Roberson led a big night off the Louisiana Tech bench as the Lady Techsters held on for a 73-66 victory over Jackson State Tuesday at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Walker scored 22 points – all coming in the second half – and Roberson added a career-high 18 points as the LA Tech bench accounted for 62 of the 73 points on the night. Freshman Tyler Jackson added a career-high 10 points and was the third Techsters in double figures.

“We’ve got to get more from everybody, and we’ve got to get it from all 11 players,” said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. “I didn’t think we got it from all 11, whether that was from foul trouble or we looked passive. We need every single one of them every night. I don’t want to play somebody 30 minutes each night, especially when we get into conference play and have back-to-back nights.”

Tech (3-1) won despite big performance by the Jackson State one-two punch of Ameshya Williams and Dayzsha Rogan who both scored 22 points for the Tigers (0-3).

The Lady Techsters led 26-22 at the half but Jackson State came out of the lockerroom and shot 80 percent from the field in the third quarter. JSU led 38-35 with 4:11 to play in the third quarter before Walker caught fire, scoring 11 straight points for Tech and giving the Techsters a 46-39 lead. Robyn Lee’s three-pointer with 29 seconds to play in the third quarter gave Tech its biggest lead of the night at 49-39.

“Keiunna is a really tough matchup, and she had just been taking some tough shots,” said Stoehr. “We need to get her back to playing off two and getting her into some situations where she can play some closeout basketball. We ran a little set for her and got her on a baseball drive there in the third quarter. That got her going, and that was really big. Just getting a little spark, and she can bring that. She responded.”

After Jackson State made a run in the fourth quarter, cutting the Tech lead down to one at 53-52, it was Robertson’s turn to step up. The sophomore scored nine of her 18 point in the stanza to help Tech pick up the win.

“I thought they were the tougher team in the first half offensively,” said Stoehr. “We had a few shots blocked, and we were rushing in there instead of turning and being poised and going up strong. We were looking for a foul call instead of finishing. Anna Larr really responded in the second half, and we went to her and made some good post entry passes. She was able to finish.”

The Lady Techsters return to action Monday when they host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6:30 p.m.