FRESNO, Calif. - Amber Obaze tied her career-high with 22 points to lead 11th ranked Louisiana Tech to an emotional 63-53 win over Fresno State (9-7, 3-3) Saturday afternoon before 1,683 fans at North Gym.

Obaze hit 10 of 25 field goals while pulling down a season-high eight rebounds, recording three assists and registering two steals in 40 minutes of action as Tech (12-2, 5-0) won its 10th straight game.

"I am so proud of this team because they overcame a lot of adversity today," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "I have to give Stacy (Johnson-Klein) and Fresno State a lot of credit because they played extremely hard. It was a tough environment to win in and we found a way to get it done."

Emotions ran high as the game pitted Tech against a Fresno State team that is coached by former Lady Techster assistant Stacy Johnson-Klein. However, Tech found a way to overcome an inspired Bulldog upset bid to hang on for the 10-point victory.

"We want to win every game," Obaze said. "However, playing against Coach Johnson inspired us even more and it made the game more emotional. I think that was a positive thing. We started out well, and we came ready to play. I don't know what happened during the run."

Tech jumped out to a 21-4 lead at the 11:30 mark of the first half as the Lady Techsters pounded the basketball inside against the Bulldogs man-to-man defense. However, Fresno State began sagging inside with its perimeter players and forced Tech to beat them outside.

Johnson-Klein's squad proceeded to outscore Tech 25-12 to end the first half only trailing by four and then built as much as a 39-35 lead early in the second half on a Tiffany Simon jump shot at the 15:45 mark.

"We went through a period defensively where we just kept getting beat off the dribble," Budke said. "Fresno State is a team that likes to take the ball to the basket and for some reason, during the run we didn't do a good job of defending them."

With the Bulldogs leading 43-42 with 12:20 remaining, Tech went on a 12-1 run to build a 54-44 advantage with just over eight minutes left in the game. During the run, senior center Cheryl Ford scored five of her 11 points. The Summerfield, La., native also pulled down 18 rebounds to record her sixth straight double double and ninth of the year.

"I thought Cheryl and Trina (Frierson) both did a good job of battling the entire game," Budke said. "Fresno State was dead set on taking them out of it and they could have gotten frustrated, but instead they kept playing hard and were a big reason we won."

Sophomore guard Erica Smith added 13 points for Tech while Omelogo Udeze led Fresno State with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Both teams struggled offensively as the Lady Techsters hit 33 percent (23-69) of their shots while the Bulldogs hit only 32 percent (17-52) of their field goals. Tech outrebounded Fresno State 50-36.