Boxscore

STARKVILLE, Miss. - It was a frustrating night for 21st ranked Louisiana Tech as Mississippi State handed the Lady Techsters their first loss of the season by a score of 72-55 at Humphrey Coliseum on Tuesday night.

Tech (2-1) connected on only 36% of its field goal attempts as Mississippi State (2-2) took control early with an 11-0 run in the first half. Mississippi State went on to take their largest lead of the game at 29-10 with 6:00 minutes left in opening 20 minutes.

Tan White led Mississippi State with 28 points.

The Lady Techsters came back strong, cutting the deficit to 32-20 at halftime and trailed by only six points with under ten minutes to go in the game but could get no closer.

?We played well enough to win defensively but we are still out of synch on offense but I think this team will be okay,? said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. ?I am proud of the way this team fought but we need to learn that we need to fight hard from the opening tip and not wait.?

Tech was led by Shan Moore with 17 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Techsters.

Tasha Crain added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Techsters.

?Crain was incredible and fought for every second she was out there,? Budke added. ?If we can get all of our players to play with the kind of intensity she does for every second she is out there, we will be a very good basketball team.?

Tech opened the second half strong and trailed by only a 38-32 score after a Lakiste Barkus three-pointer at the 16:15 mark of the second half. The Lady Techsters got within 52-45 with 9:12 left but the Bulldogs withstood the Lady Techster rally, helped by several questionable calls that led to Budke being assessed a pair of technical fouls with under seven minutes to play.

?Hopefully we can learn a lot from tonight,? Budke added. ?I want to give credit to Mississippi State though. They bothered us with their pressure and shot the ball extremely well from three point range in the first half which put us in that big hole early in the game.?

The Lady Techsters out rebounded MSU 41-38 but committed 17 turnovers to 15 for the Lady Bulldogs.

Mississippi State held Tech?s leading scorer Lakiste Barkus to just three points on 1-of-12 shooting in the contest.

The Lady Techsters return to the court on Thursday night when Tech hosts Western Kentucy at 6:30 p.m.