Boxscore

Junior guard Erica Smith-Taylor and senior forward Amisha Carter each scored 22 points to lead sixth-ranked Louisiana Tech to a 76-52 win over Rice Saturday in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship game before 987 fans at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Cal.

With the victory, Tech (27-2) won its ninth straight conference tournament title ? its third as a member of the WAC ? and earned league?s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

?Obviously, I?m proud of our effort,? said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. ?Playing three games in four days in not easy, and I thought we gutted it out. We really picked up our intensity in the second half.?

With Tech leading 29-23 at the half, Smith-Taylor scored the first 12 points of the second half for the Lady Techsters as her three-pointer at the 16:38 mark of the game gave Tech a 41-26 lead, its biggest of the game.

Following Smith-Taylor?s point barrage, Carter answered with one of her own, scoring 12 of Tech?s next 18 points as the Techster lead increased to 20 points at the midway mark of the second half. Rice would get no closer than 18 points the rest of the way.

Smith-Taylor, who earned all-tournament team honors, registered her third 20-point plus performance of the season, all three coming against Rice.

?Maybe its just coincidence,? Smith-Taylor said when asked about her success against Rice. ?I play every game as hard as I can. At the half we talked about knowing your role and that?s what I decided to do and it showed in the second half.?

Carter, named the tournament most valuable player, hit only 8-of-22 field goals during the game but pulled down 16 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds, to help the Lady Techsters outrebound Rice 52-33.

?I thought the key to the game would be the team with the most rebounds at the end,? Carter said. ?So I just wanted to concentrate on that.?

The first half was a defensive battle as Rice held Tech to only 32 percent (12-37) shooting while also forcing 12 first half Techster turnovers. Budke said he felt pretty good at the half knowing how his team had struggled from the field.

?We?re up six at the half and my top two scorers are 4-of-18 from the field,? Budke said. ?We knew that wouldn?t continue and it didn?t. I was proud of Amisha and Trina (Frierson) for continuing to go up strong inside. Rice leads the nation in blocks and they caused us some problems.?

However, the Lady Owls (21-9) also struggled against the tenacious Tech man to man defense, turning the ball over 15 times in the opening 20 minutes.

?Give Louisiana Tech a lot of credit,? said Rice head coach Cristy McKinney. ?I thought that in the second half they played really well and took it to us. And we didn?t respond very well. We are disappointed that we didn?t have a better showing. That is the worst we played against Louisiana Tech this year.?

For the game Tech?s defense forced Rice into 29 turnovers and held the Ladey Owls to only 36 percent (19-53) from the field and 1 of 9 shooting from the three-point line.

Senior forward Trina Frierson also made the all-tournament team and was huge defensively for the Techsters against Rice despite struggling offensively. For the game, Frierson pulled down 10 rebounds but hit only 2 of 12 field goals.

Anne Peck led Rice with 10 points, while the Lady Owls leading scorer Lindsey Maynard was held to two points on 1 of 7 shooting.

Tech will find out where it will be seeded and where it will be heading Sunday when the NCAA Selection Show airs at 4 p.m. at ESPN.