Boxscore

RUSTON ? Aarica Ray-Boyd scored a career-high tying 16 points and Tasha Williams added nine points and a career-high 16 rebounds as Louisiana Tech overcame one of the poorest shooting nights in the program?s history to down Mississippi State 52-41 at the Thomas Assembly Center Tuesday night.

The 52 points was the second lowest point total in a Tech win in the program?s history, surpassed only by a 48-36 victory over Oklahoma in the 1996 NCAA Tournament game played in Ruston.

For the game, Tech (5-2) hit only 26 percent (17-66) of its field goal attempts including a paltry 6-of-37 in the final 20 minutes of play.

?It was as frustrating a game shooting wise as I?ve ever been a part of,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?We got some very good looks all night but just couldn?t make them. I kept thinking we would start making them but we never did.?

An Aarica Ray-Boyd jumper with 10:18 to play in the game gave the Lady Techsters a 40-31 lead; however, Tech would hit only 1-of-18 shots the rest of the game. Mississippi State (2-6) capitalized on Tech?s cold shooting, cutting a 36-22 Techster lead down to 40-36 with seven minutes to play.

The Lady Techsters held on by hitting on 9-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes of play to secure the victory, its fourth straight at home against Mississippi State.

Defensively, Tech held the Bulldogs to only 29 percent (18-63) of its shots while forcing 25 turnovers and blocking seven shots.

Tech had ample opportunity to put the game away in the first half, jumping out to a 7-0 lead as Mississippi State didn?t score until a Miayorka Johnson jumper at the 12:40 mark put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard.

But missed opportunities kept the pesky Bulldogs close.

?We had so many good opportunities to really take control of the game in the first half,? Long said. ?If we just hit our easy shots we would have had a much more comfortable lead.?

The game stayed close with Tech leading 16-14 with 6:43 to play. However, the Lady Techsters used a 12-4 run to close out the first half and grab a 28-18 halftime advantage.

The substory of the night was the rebounding of Williams, who entered the game with a career-high of eight boards in her career. The senior guard, who hit only 2-of-10 field goals in the game, pulled down seven boards in the first half ? all defensive ? and nine more in the second half ? eight on the offensive end of the floor.?

Johnson led Mississippi State offensively with 14 points while Mamie McKinney added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Tech returns to action Thursday when the Lady Techsters travel to No. 1 ranked Tennessee.