RUSTON -Louisiana Tech head coach Kurt Budke was worried about a possible letdown against UTEP heading into Thursday night's contest. He didn't need to be.

The sixth-ranked Lady Techsters (24-2, 16-0) dominated from start to finish and downed the Miners 108-54 at the Thomas Assembly Center.

"They have had a day or two of tough travel," Budke said. "Coming off this last weekend, we are playing with so much confidence right now. I thought Erica Smith and Tasha Crain set the tone early with their defense and got us off and rolling."

Tech jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first three minutes thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Smith, and increased it to 24-4 at the 13:46 mark of the first half. The Lady Techsters hit 54 percent (21-39) of their field goals in the opening stanza to grab a commanding 55-22 halftime lead.

"Everyone knows we have struggled at home this year," said junior forward Trina Frierson, who scored 20 points in only 21 minutes of action. "We wanted to come out from the beginning and follow the game plan and make sure we defended UTEP. We knew they could score. Things just worked out to our advantage."

Frierson hit 8-of-9 field goals and all four free throws to record her third 20-plus point outing in her last four games. Senior center Cheryl Ford added 17 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes of work, while setting a new Western Athletic Conference single season rebounding record with 316.

"As long as Cheryl and Trina continue to work as hard as they are inside, we will be tough," Budke said. "There are a lot of teams that can match up with one but very few teams that can match up with both of them."

Frierson, who is averaging 23.3 points over the last four contests, said she has taken a different mindset onto the floor recently.

"It's always been there," Frierson said. "I'm just looking at things differently. Instead of worrying about every little thing, I get the ball and think I can't be denied. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make this team better."

Things only got worse for UTEP in the second half as Tech hit 65 percent (22-34) of its field goals and quickly built a 50-point lead at 80-30 at the 13:03 mark of the game. The 108 points marked the most by a Lady Techsters squad since Tech beat New Orleans 114-69 in the final home game of the 1999-00 regular season.

Smith added 13 points for Tech, while Amber Obaze and Toya George chipped in with 12 each. The win was Tech's 22nd straight overall and 19th straight in WAC regular season action.

Ingrid Goslin led UTEP with 10 points.