Boxscore

RUSTON - Twelfth-ranked Louisiana Tech overcame an inspired effort by Arkansas-Little Rock to down the Trojans 81-58 Tuesday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Tech (4-1), two days removed from a physical and emotional loss at Tennessee, never looked in sync while the upstart Trojans came out of the gate strong and played relatively close with the Lady Techsters through the first 25 minutes of the game.

"We had absolutely no energy and it showed offensively, defensively and with the turnovers; just everything," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "As a coach, I'm definitely disappointed, but I also try to understand what we just went through (at Tennessee)."

Tech led 43-32 at halftime and only 51-40 at the 16:13 mark of the second half before using a 25-5 run over the next 10 minutes to increase the advantage to 76-45 with 7:23 to play on an Amisha Carter lay up.

"I think we played very well in the first half," said UALR head coach Joe Foley. "We got some good shots, and we played with them. I think they just wore us down in the second half. To come in and play a top 10 team on their home and to get the shots we got, I think we did pretty well."

The Trojans did more than well early in the game as UALR actually held an 11-10 lead at the first officials timeout at the 15:52 mark of the first half, thanks to a trio of three-pointers. Tech reclaimed the lead on an Amber Obaze jump shot and appeared ready to pull away when it held a 26-15 advantage at the 8:49 mark.

However, Foley's squad fought back, outscoring Tech 13-5 over the next four minutes to pull within 31-28 before the Lady Techsters entered the halftime locker room with the 11-point lead.

A large part of the Techsters struggles came due to 19 turnovers on the night.

"We were pretty beat up but that is no excuse," said senior forward Trina Frierson. "We didn't come out with the right frame of mind. We should have come out with more energy and more focus."

Frierson led four Techsters in double figures with a season-high 19 points, while Amisha Carter added 15 points and 11 rebounds, Lakiste Barkus chipped in with 15 points and Obaze added 13.

Alicia Cash led UALR with 21 points, while Jocelyn Love added 12 and Heather Morris chipped in with 10.

"I want to give Joe Foley and his staff a lot of credit," Budke said. "They are a very well coached team and came out and played well. They will definitely be able to compete in the Sun Belt Conference."

Tech returns to action Thursday night when it hosts Southern at 7 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.