Boxscore

Trina Frierson scored 19 points and Erica Smith-Taylor recorded her first career double double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead 12th-ranked Louisiana Tech to an 84-71 win over San Jose State Thursday night at The Events Center.

Three other Lady Techsters scored in double figures, including Lakiste Barkus? 14 points, and Amber Obaze and Amisha Carter?s 12 points, as Tech withstood a comeback effort by the Spartans (10-3, 2-2 WAC), who lost for the first time at home this year.

After leading 39-27 at the half, Tech (11-2, 4-1 WAC) increased its lead to 56-34 at the 13:04 mark of the second half on a pair of free throws by Barkus, before San Jose State started to cut into the advantage.

A Frierson layup at the 10:06 mark of the final 20 minutes gave Tech a 62-42 lead before San Jose State proceeded to score the next eight points, cutting the Lady Techster lead to 62-50 with 7:54 remaining.

San Jose State guard Cricket Williams, who scored 20 of her game-high 21 points in the final half, hit a three-pointer with 1:16 left to close the gap to 74-66 but that was as close as the Spartans could get. Tech hit 19 of 26 free throws in the second half as well as 57 percent(13-23) of its field goals to hold on for the victory.

?I won?t lie about it, I?m not real happy with our performance down the stretch,? said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. ?We didn?t handle their pressure well once we got up by 22 points. We simply have to be a tougher basketball team.?

For the game, Tech hit 54 percent (29-54) of its field goals against a San Jose State squad that entered the game ranked No. 8 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, allowing its previous 12 opponents to hit only 34 percent of their shots.

In addition to Carter?s 12 points, the Oakland, Calif., native added 11 rebounds to record her seventh double double of the season.

Despite scoring 21 points for San Jose State, Williams committed a season-high 12 turnovers in the game as the Spartans recorded 25 for the game.

Tech returns to action Saturday night when they face Hawaii at 11 p.m. CST.