Boxscore

RUSTON ? Sophomore Ty Moore scored a career-high 21 points to lead Louisiana Tech (17-6, 13-2 WAC) to an 81-66 win over UTEP (11-15, 6-10) before 2,613 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center Thursday night.

Moore hit 9-of-14 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws while adding six rebounds, one block and one steal in 27 minutes of play. The former Southwood High School prep star shattered her old career-high of 10 points.

?I don?t think we ever come into a game expecting Ty to score 21 points,? said Tech head coach Kurt Budke. ?She had some shots tonight and did a good job of finishing against a much bigger UTEP team.?

Junior Tasha Crain added 15 points and Lakiste Barkus scored 12 points as Tech won for the 102nd straight time at home in regular season conference action.

Despite what looked like an impressive win, Budke said he wasn?t pleased with the play of his team down the stretch. The Techsters held a 76-51 lead before being outscored 15-5 and allowing UTEP to shoot 52 percent from the field in the second half.

?I would love to say I was excited about the win but we just didn?t finish the game like we need to,? Budke said. ?We have to learn to have that killer instinct that good teams have; we haven?t learned how to put people away yet.?

UTEP led 11-8 early in the game before Tech took control. Moore scored seven points and Margaret DeCiman added six points during a 21-9 run that saw the Techsters take a 29-17 advantage. Tech led 34-22 at the half thanks to forcing 15 first half turnovers by the Miners.

?Tech did an excellent job of denying the wings, and we had too many turnovers out of our guards,? said UTEP head coach Keitha Green. ?We tried to set screens to get open but they moved through the screens well and kept pressure on the ball.?

Tech put the game away early in the second half, outscoring UTEP 21-8 in the first eight minutes to grab a 55-30 lead.

Marta Dydek and Kasia Krezel led UTEP with 11 points.

The Lady Techsters return to action Saturday against Boise State at 6:30 p.m.