Boxscore

MISSOULA, Montana - During Friday's Montana press conference leading up to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Lady Griz senior guard Julie Deming told media that Louisiana Tech's Erica Smith-Taylor "is human. She is no Sheryl Swoopes."

Smith-Taylor responded Saturday night with her best Sheryl Swoopes impression, scoring a career-high 29 points and leading the fifth-seeded Lady Techsters to a come-from-behind 81-77 win over 12th seeded Montana before 7,413 boistrous Lady Griz fans.

The win sends the Lady Techsters (28-2) into Monday night's second round game against Texas Tech, a 60-50 winner over Maine. Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. CST.

With Tech trailing 60-49 with 10:26 remaining in the game, Smith-Taylor ignited the Lady Techster come-back scoring 14 points down the stretch while also registering the assist on the go-ahead bucket by Lakiste Barkus with 1:32 to play.

"It's desperation," Smith-Taylor said afterwards. "We had the mentality of do or die. Do we want to go home or do we want to stay in Missoula, Montana. We didn't want to go home so we left it all on the court. That's what we did to be successful and get the victory."

Smith-Taylor hit 11 of 17 field goals, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc, while also registering a team-high five assists and four rebounds in 29 minutes of action.

"Erica Smith-Taylor is going to be a Kodak All-American next year," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "She just carried us tonight. I told the team in the locker room that all season long, we've never depended on one person. Tonight we jumped on Erica's back."

Smith-Taylor led Tech to an early 8-0 lead with a pair of three-pointers and the Lady Techsters eventually pushed the advantage out to 34-22 with 5:35 to play in the opening half. However, Montana fought back and actually tied the game at 37-37 before Tech's Tasha Crain hit a shot right before the halftime buzzer to give the Lady Techsters a slim two-point advantage.

However, Montana (27-5) came out of the locker room and beat Louisiana Tech to every loose ball and hurt the Lady Techsters on the offensive glass as the Lady Griz built an 11-point lead on three different occasions.

"I felt like we were playing well and had a lead but the game's 40 minutes long," said Montana head coach Robin Selvig. "Give Louisiana Tech credit. We had the place rocking and were playing pretty well, but they got their hands on a couple of passes and caught a couple of breaks down the stretch. That's a heck of a basketball team."

Montana success was largely due to its ability to handle the basketball as the Lady Griz committed only 12 turnovers on the night, a season low by a Louisiana Tech opponent. However, three of those 12 turnovers came in the final two minutes and allowed Tech to grab the lead.

The Lady Griz were also able to handle Tech's one-two punch of Amisha Carter and Trina Frierson, holding the pair to seven and 12 points respectively on only 6 of 20 shooting.

Senior guard Amber Obaze, who hit three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 0:40 remaining to up Tech's lead to 79-75, added 14 points while Barkus chipped in with 10, including a banked in three-pointer with 2:32 left that brought Tech within 72-70.

Although Tech did break Montana's 22-game home winning streak, Budke said he doesn't care about returning to face the Lady Griz anytime soon.

"The next time I come to Montana it's going to be on vacation," Budke said. "I'm never playing here again. The coach is too good, the player are too good, they play too hard and they have very loud, very knowledgeable fans."