Boxscore

JONESBORO, Ark. -- Louisiana Tech held Arkansas State to only 26 percent shooting and seven second half field goals as the Lady Techsters downed the Lady Indians 76-64 Thursday night at the Convocation Center.

Arkansas State guard Rudy Sims three-pointer with 7:17 to play in the game closed Louisiana Tech?s lead to 58-53, but the Lady Techsters held the Lady Indians without a field goal the rest of the game.

?This is as good as we?ve played this year defensively,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?I thought our players did a great job of locking in on the scouting report and defending a good Arkansas State team. We did a good job of getting out in the passing lanes and forcing turnovers. That was the key to this game.?

Tech?s 18 steals led to 27 points off of turnovers as the Lady Techsters ended Arkansas State?s 16-game home winning streak, the 12th longest streak in the country.

Leading 34-30 coming out of the halftime locker room, Tech saw its advantage evaporate quickly as a Rachel Brown free throw at the 16:48 mark of the second half gave the Lady Indians their largest lead of the game at 40-38.

However, an 8-0 run sparked by Tasha Williams and Ty Moore gave Tech a 46-40 advantage and Arkansas State would never lead again.

Moore, who was held to zero points and only four rebounds in the first half, ended the game with 10 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots and was one of the defensive catalysts who held Arkansas State?s leading scorer Adrianne Davie to only six points on 3-of-11 shooting.

?I challenged all of our post players at the half to be more aggressive on the offensive glass,? said Long, who saw his team fail to pull down an offensive rebound in the opening 20 minutes of the game. ?I was proud of Ty and all of our players in the second half.?

Junior forward Amber Metoyer also provided a big spark off the Tech bench, scoring a career-high nine points, dishing out a career-high three assists, and registering a career-high six steals in 19 minutes of action.

Williams, playing in her home state for the first time since her freshman season, led Tech with 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Aarica Ray-Boyd added a career-high 18 points for Tech.

Tech outscored Arkansas State 42-34 in the second half thanks to hitting 18-of-22 free throws and holding the Lady Indians to only 7-of-31 shooting in the final 20 minutes of play.

The Lady Techsters return to action Thursday when they open Western Athletic Conference play against Boise State in the Thomas Assembly Center at 7 p.m.