RUSTON - Freshmen guard Toya George and Aarica Ray combined to hit six three-pointers and score 26 points to lead No. 17 Louisiana Tech (4-2) over Louisiana-Lafayette 81-50 before 2,812 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center Monday night.

George connected on 3 of 7 while Ray hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc against the Ragin Cajuns zone defense as the Lady Techsters improved to 38-0 all-time against UL-Lafayette (1-4).

Trina Frierson led all Tech scorers with 17 points, while George added a career-high 15, Cheryl Ford scored 13 and Ray chipped in with a career-high 11.

"Toya George and Aarica Ray can shoot the basketball," Budke said. "That's why we recruited them. The playoffs aren't until March, and you can continue to see the potential as our shooters start to come along."

Both teams started slowly offensively as Tech held a slim 13-12 lead at the 13:09 mark of the first half before an 11-0 run upped the advantage to 24-12. Tech entered the halftime locker room leading 43-20 and Louisiana-Lafayette would get no closer than 19 points the rest of the way.

Budke used 10 of his 11 available players during the game as each played at least 10 minutes and everyone who touched the court for Tech scored.

"That team beat Missouri so I didn't expect to come out and blow them right out of the water," Budke said. "They've proven themselves with a big win this year. I think we needed a win like this. Our first five games this year have been pretty intense. We needed a game where we could get some of our younger players involved, and I think you saw tonight some of the potential."

For the game Tech hit 48 percent (31-65) of its shots while limiting the Ragin Cajuns to only 32 percent (15-47) on the night. The Lady Techsters registered their best outside shooting night of the season, hitting 7 of 14 three-pointers.

Budke said he was not displeased with the 31-point victory, which improved Tech's overall mark against UL-Lafayette to 38-0.

"We can't forget we've had a tough, physical week," Budke said. "Tennessee on Wednesday, travel on Friday, Tulane on Saturday and it's just Monday. We physically haven't recovered from last week. I was proud of the effort tonight."

Tech returns to action Saturday when the Lady Techsters host Nicholls State at 7 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.