Boxscore

HOUSTON ? Tasha Williams? conventional three-point play with 0:35 remaining in the game propelled Louisiana Tech to a 79-75 win over Rice in the championship game of the 2005 Gene Hackerman Invitational at Autry Court.

With Tech holding a slim 74-73 lead after a pair of free throws by Rice forward Lauren Neaves with 1:01 remaining, Williams drove down the middle of the lane and hit an off-balance reverse lay-up while being fouled by Kadie Riverin.

The senior All-America candidate hit her free throw to give Tech a four-point lead and the Lady Owls would get no closer as the Lady Techsters won for only the second time in the last five years at Autry Court.

?I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?We had to overcome a lot of adversity and we made plays down the stretch when it counted. As we know, this is a tough place to win.?

Ironically, Rice held its only lead of the game prior to the opening tip-off as Riverin hit one of two free throws after a technical foul was assessed against the Tech bench.

However, Tech responded by hitting 10 of its first 12 field goal attempts to build a 31-23 lead with 6:43 to play. For the fourth straight game, major foul trouble forced Long to use his bench for the majority of the first half as Tech was called for 17 first half personal fouls.

?We?ve worked all preseason on becoming a more aggressive team defensively,? Long said. ?I think that is something we lacked the last year or two. However, now with the hand check rule being emphasized so drastically, we are having a lot of trouble adjusting. I was proud of the entire team tonight. It took everyone to win this one.?

Foul trouble forced Long to play Williams only eight minutes in the first half, while Shan Moore played only seven and Tamika Kursh four.

However, Eboni Mangum and Amber Metoyer led the Tech reserves which scored 19 of Tech?s 39 first half points. Fortunately for the Techsters, Rice hit only 10 of 23 free throws in the first half before making 11 of 12 in the final 20 minutes of action.

Tech shot 47 percent (30-64) for the game, the best performance of the year for the Lady Techsters.

?I?m proud of the way we played offensively,? Long said. ?I thought we ran our sets extremely well tonight, especially down the stretch. We got some good looks and tonight we knocked them down.?

After holding a slim 39-38 halftime advantage, Tech pushed the lead out to 57-48 with 13:06 to play until Rice fought back to tie the game at 67-67 at the 5:57 mark.

Shan Moore and Williams combined to score the final 12 points of the game for Tech, including the spectacular three-point play by Williams that sealed the win.

Williams earned the most valuable player award for the tournament after scoring 17 points, registering four assists, four rebounds and three steals in the game. Aarica Ray-Boyd (six points) and Shan Moore (14 points, three assists, five rebounds) also earned all-tournament team honors.

Ty Moore chipped in with 15 points and 12 rebounds while Metoyer finished with 11 points and seven rebounds and Mangum added 10 points.

Lauren Neaves led Rice with 22 points and 14 rebounds.

Tech returns to action Tuesday when the Lady Techsters face Kansas State in Manhattan at 7 p.m.