Boxscore

RUSTON - A Mississippi native beat Mississippi State Sunday afternoon at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Louisiana Tech senior forward Trina Frierson, a native of Vicksburg, Miss., scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the 12th-ranked Lady Techsters 94-65 win over the Lady Bulldogs (2-4).

Frierson and teammate Amisha Carter combined for 28 points and eight rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of the game, helping Louisiana Tech to a 49-25 halftime advantage.

"That was the game plan," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "We wanted to go right after them inside in the paint. I thought we did a good job of that. Amisha was sick and didn't feel good do we had to rely a lot more on Trina and I thought she did a tremendous job."

Against the smaller Mississippi State defenders, Frierson had her way the entire game, hitting 13 of 24 field goals and one of three free throws in 31 minutes of action.

"Frierson is a fifth-year player and she knows how to score," said Mississippi State head coach Sharon Fanning. "In the first half they had 28 points off of layups in transition or passes to the post. We let Frierson split (our double team) a couple of times."

Frierson, who is still recovering from knee surgery in early October and who also had the Vicksburg High School girls basketball team in attendance, looked more inspired playing against the Lady Bulldogs.

"I didn't think too much about who we were playing to be honest," Frierson said. "Coach Budke and I had a talk, and he told me I was settling for the jumper too much. I have to get to the free throw line. I just wanted exert myself inside."

Tied at 4-4 at the 18:00 mark of the first half, the Lady Techsters used a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to jump out 17-4. Mississippi State was unable to get any closer than 11 points the rest of the way as Tech's 24-point hafltime lead was the biggest of the first half for the Lady Techsters.

Tech's success inside led to 59 percent (40-68) field goal percentage, including 65 percent (20-31) in the first half. The Lady Techsters also used their tenacious man-to-man defense to force 26 turnovers and register 18 steals, including a career-high tying seven steals by junior guard Erica Smith-Taylor.

Smith-Taylor added 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds while Carter and Amber Obaze each added 13 points and Lakiste Barkus scored 12.

Tech returns to action Dec. 21 against Penn State on the road.