RUSTON - Louisiana Tech won the war but wasn't real happy with their fight following a 79-65 win over Rice Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

For the third straight game the Lady Techsters (14-2, 7-0) jumped out to a big first half lead, allowed the opponent to come back and then found a way to win as Tech retained sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference race.

Tech held a 44-28 lead when Cheryl Ford hit a lay up to open the second half, but then saw Rice (6-10, 3-4) go on a 28-16 run over the next 10 minutes to cut the Lady Techster advantage down to 60-56 at the midway point of the second half.

"Until our bench matures, we will have nights like this," Budke said. "We hit the dry spell in the second half because we were a little bit tired. We had a stretch of five or six minutes that was shaky, but when it counted, we reached down and got it done."

With Rice collapsing on Ford, who scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the first half alone, it was the play of guards Amber Obaze and Erica Smith that proved to be the difference. Obaze scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds while Smith added 20 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks to spoil the Lady Owls upset bid.

Despite Tech winning its 12th straight game, the Lady Techster players were not happy with their effort.

"I think for a few minutes (in the second half) we quit (playing hard); we quit," Ford said. "I think we thought we already had it won. We knew they were a good team because they beat us last year, but we didn't play like we should have the entire time."

Smith, who scored 43 points in the last two games, agreed with her teammates assessment about Tech's lack of intensity for the entire contest.

"It's something we have to overcome," Smith said. "We have to want it more. We have to realize that teams are not going to back down from us. We have to rebound and play defense for 40 minutes; not 20, not 30, but 40 minutes. We are grateful for the win; we are happy for the win, but it was a sloppy one."

Ford recorded her eighth straight double double with 16 points and 16 rebounds while Rice was led by Michelle Woods and Johnetta Hayes with 10 points each.

"Tech's front court size was a factor, but we have good size and a really good frontcourt too," said Rice head coach Cristy McKinney. "We hit one of our dry spells (late in the second half) where we couldn't score, and it is killing us every game we play."

Tech hit 49 percent (28-57) of its field goals while the Owls connected on only 38 percent (23-61).

The Lady Techsters return to action Monday night when they host Centenary at 7 p.m.