Boxscore

RUSTON - Southern Methodist felt the wrath of 11th-ranked Louisiana Tech's offensive firepower Saturday night as the Lady Techsters downed the Mustangs 88-52 before 3,647 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Behind the hot hand of Erica Smith-Taylor from the three-point line and the inside combination of Trina Frierson and Amisha Carter, Tech (13-2, 6-1 WAC) built a 31-point halftime lead and coasted to the impressive victory.

Smith-Taylor hit four of her career-high five three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes while Frierson and Carter combined for 22 points and 15 rebounds as the Lady Techsters led 51-20 entering the locker room.

"We talked about how we've been struggling from the three-point line in conference play, shooting only 24 percent," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "Since Christmas we've really dropped off. I told them that we were going to stop shooting the three unless we start working on it harder after practice. The players did a nice job this week of working hard after practice and it showed tonight."

Smith-Taylor finished the game with 18 points, Carter added 17, Frierson 16, Amber Obaze scored 14 and Lakiste Barkus 11 as the Techsters hit 49 percent (34-69) of their field goals while outrebounding SMU 61-41.

"I thought the first half was a thing of beauty, and I told the players that at halftime," Budke said. "How we were running the floor, getting out on the break, distributing the basketball, making that extra pass; I just thought it was impressive."

Despite spraining her ankle in the opening minutes of play, Carter came back strong, adding 10 rebounds and four blocks to her scoring output in 23 minutes of action while Frierson also finished with a double double, pulling down 11 boards.

With Tech leading 23-14 at the midway point of the first half, the Lady Techsters put it into another gear, outscoring SMU (7-9, 3-4) 28-6 to end the first half.

"When we hit that scoring drought, it hurt our team," said SMU head coach Rhonda Rompola. "Then all of a sudden we were rushing, trying to hit tough shots, and Tech just kept running at us. I felt like for a while our kids gave up and were not competing, and that was disappointing to me."

SMU struggled from the field all night long, hitting only 22 of 84 field goals, including only five of 25 from the three-point line. Junior guard Kiara White led the Mustangs in scoring with 11 points.

The Techsters return to action Thursday night when they host Boise State at 7 p.m.