Boxscore

HOUSTON - For the second time in three years Louisiana Tech saw a record-long conference-winning streak snapped by Rice as the Lady Owls downed the eighth-ranked Lady Techsters 87-84 in overtime at Autry Court Monday.

Senior guard Amber Obaze's three-pointer at the buzzer rattled off the back of the rim as the Lady Techsters lost a conference game for the first time since falling to Rice 57-56 in February of 2002.

Despite trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, Tech (8-2, 1-1 WAC) fought back to cut the Rice lead to 12 at the half at 41-29 and then quickly cut it to 45-42 with 15:14 remaining.

"I thought we didn't come to play in the first part of the game," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "You can't not show up against a good team and fall behind like we did and then expect to win. I'm very proud of the way this team fought back but we have to start playing from the opening tip."

After Rice pushed its lead back out to 64-54 at the 5:06 mark of the game, the Techsters responded again and finally took the lead 67-66 on an Amisha Carter layup with 1:31 remaining. After the two teams traded buckets, Carter gave Tech a 73-72 lead with :06 remaining on another layup.

However, the Tech bench was assessed a technical foul for calling a timeout and not having one. Rice's Lindsey Maynard hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 73-73. After a Rice turnover on the inbounds pass, Obaze's 10-foot baseline shot came rimming out, sending the game to overtime.

"I take complete responsibility for the timeout," Budke said. "I thought I had another 30 second timeout left and I called it. That was my fault."

Early in overtime Tech built a 78-74 lead but both Trina Frierson and Tasha Crain fouled out and the Techsters couldn't hold onto the lead.

Carter led Tech with 26 points and 19 rebounds while Erica Smith-Taylor added 20 points and eight rebounds and Obaze chipped in with 14 points.

Tech returns to action Thursday when they host Nevada