Boxscore

RUSTON - Louisiana Tech knew its work wasn't done even after the Lady Techsters 12-point win over Rice Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center gave them a one-game lead in the Western Athletic Conference race.

Any thoughts of a letdown on Saturday were quickly sniffed out as Tech jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in defeating Tulsa 81-57 before 3,246, clinching the outright WAC title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming league tournament.

Tech (24-2, 17-1) held Tulsa without a field goal for the first 10 minutes of the game and by the time Megan Moody hit a three-pointer for the Golden Hurricane (18-10, 11-7) at the 9:55 mark of the half, the Lady Techsters were already comfortably out in front 19-6.

"Tulsa came in here on a role," said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. "They are a solid team and finished third in this league. Our defense in the first half was tremendous; we took them out of everything they wanted to do. We looked like we were tournament ready defensively."

The game was over by halftime as Tech led 38-18 thanks to holding Tulsa to only 6 of 26 from the field while forcing 19 first half turnovers.

Offensively, seniors Trina Frierson and Amber Obaze stepped up for the Lady Techsters after leading scorer Amisha Carter went down with a sprained ankle in the first minute of the game. Carter returned in the second half but only scored eight points and grabbed a season-low two rebounds in 17 minutes of play.

Obaze and Frierson, playing in their final game at the Thomas Assembly Center, scored 19 and 18 points respectively while combining to hit 16 of 28 field goals. Frierson added a season-high 13 rebounds to record her sixth double double of the year.

"Words can explain how I feel right now," Frierson said afterwards during the post-game celebration which included the team cutting down the nets. "My last game at the TAC. It's really touching. I've had a lot of good years here and I'm happy."

Tulsa, which had won four straight games and entered the contest 6-2 in road WAC games, had little chance of making it a game in the second half as Tech pushed the lead out to as many as 34 at 79-45 before posting the 24-point victory.

"Louisiana Tech came into this game extremely focused," said Tulsa head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller. "They play through their defense by getting out in the passing lanes, coming up with great stops and several steals. They prevented us from getting into any offensive rhythm throughout the majority of the game."

Erica Smith-Taylor added 16 points, nine rebounds and six steals for the Lady Techsters, who won their 16th straight game.

True freshman Jillian Robbins led Tulsa with 15 points and 16 rebounds while Megan Moody added 13 points.

With the victory, Tech won its 12th straight regular season conference title, including its 10th outright.

The Lady Techsters will play their first round game at the WAC Tournament Wednesday; however, time and opponent won't be known until the completion of the Fresno State at Hawaii game that tips off at 11 p.m. CST tonight.