Boxscore

San Jose, Calif. ? Louisiana Tech dug deep inside itself and found enough energy to down San Jose State 80-51 before 1,211 fans at The Events Center Saturday night.

With the win, Tech (15-6, 11-2 WAC) maintains a 2 ? game lead in the Western Athletic Conference standings over both San Jose State (15-7, 8-4) and Rice (8-4).

?I couldn?t be prouder of a team,? said Tech head coach Kurt Budke following the game. ?People just don?t understand how tired these kids are. There isn?t a tougher conference road swing in the country then when we have to travel to Hawaii and San Jose State. These kids showed me what they were made of tonight.?

The Techsters found themselves needing a victory following their heartbreaking 79-78 overtime loss to Hawaii Thursday night and the entire team responded.

After getting off to a slow start that saw San Jose State lead 14-8 with 8:32 remaining in the first half, Tech produced a 22-10 run and entered the halftime locker room leading 30-24.

However, Tech?s mantra of playing much better in the second half continued as the Techsters outscored San Jose State 50-27 in the final 20 minutes of action.

Budke?s squad opened the second half on a 37-9 run and led 67-33 with 5:28 remaining in the game.

Offensively, Erica Taylor and Tasha Crain led the way with 16 points while Lakiste Barkus added 14 points and Margaret DeCiman chipped in with 13 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

However, the key to the victory was Tech defense against the Spartans, holding San Jose State to only 28 percent (21-75) shooting for the game, including only 23 percent (10-43) in the final half.

?I thought defensively we were great,? Budke said. ?I can?t say enough about Lakiste Barkus and the job she did chasing Jessica Kellogg all night. Kellogg is one of the best three-point shooters in this conference and Lakiste held her to four points.?

On the night, Kellogg hit only 1 of 13 field goals, including going 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.

Lamisha Augustine led San Jose State with 17 points, although the senior forward made only 8-of-26 field goals.

Tech returns to action Saturday when it hosts SMU at 3 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.