BOWLING GREEN, Kent. - Western Kentucky used a 19-0 first half run and an 18-4 second half run to down No. 10 ranked Louisiana Tech 71-57 before 3,259 fans at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Tech led 8-5 at the 15:00 minute mark of the opening half before the Lady Toppers behind seven points from Kristina Covington quickly upped its advantage to 24-8 with 9:48 remaining in the stanza.

"We've said all along that we can't afford to get into foul trouble," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "We look up in the first half and both Amber (Obaze) and Erica (Smith) are sitting on the bench with three fouls each. Our freshman gave it their best, but this was a hostile environment."

The Lady Techsters responded and cut the Western advantage down to five at 28-23 with 3:19 remaining before halftime on a Trina Frierson jumper in the lane; however, the Lady Toppers ended the first half on an 11-4 run to grab a 39-27 advantage.

Tech opened the second half on a 12-4 run to cut the Western Kentucky advantage down to 44-37 at the 11:57 mark before the Lady Toppers responded with an 18-4 run over the next six minutes to seal the victory.

"We just played tentative tonight once we got down," Budke said. "In the second half we had cut the lead to seven and had a couple of opportunities for steals and just couldn't make the plays. Western Kentucky answered everything we tried, and we didn't play well."

Sophomore guard Erica Smith led Tech with 10 points while Frierson and junior guard Amber Obaze each added eight points. For the game, Tech shot just 31 percent (21-67) from the field, including 3 of 23 from the three-point line while being outrebounded 46-34.

Leslie Logsdon led four Western players in double figures with 18 points, while Shala Reese and Tiffany Porter-Talbert each scored 15 points and Covington added 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Despite turning the basketball over 29 times, the Lady Toppers broke an 11-game winning streak by Tech over Western.

"We knew there would be bumps along the way," Budke said. "The win over Texas Tech made everyone think that everything was perfect. We will have a lot of bumps unless we learn from tonight."

Louisiana Tech returns to action Monday night when the Lady Techsters travel to Arkansas State for a 7 p.m. tip-off.