Boxscore

RUSTON ? Louisiana Tech senior guard Erica Taylor scored a season-high 19 points to lead five Lady Techsters in double figures as Tech downed Nevada 108-72 before 3,482 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center Saturday night.

Taylor, who saw action in only her fifth game since returning from giving birth to daughter Nia Jay Taylor Dec. 14, hit 5 of 13 field goals and 9-of-9 free throws while playing 21 minutes.

?Nineteen points. That?s pretty impressive,? said Tech head coach Kurt Budke, who saw his team eclipse their previous season high of 88 points in a game. ?I was impressed at how well she did the little things; rebounding, hitting free throws and other things that might now show up in the stat sheet.

?I was very encouraged by what I saw tonight from her. It couldn?t come at a better time with the road trip we have coming up next week. It?s a good time for her to step up and help us.?

Taylor, whose husband Jermain was in attendance after flying in from Miami where he is training for his next fight on Feb. 19, said she felt better then she has felt since she returned to practice back on Jan. 19.

?My feet have been hurting but I got some orthodics made yesterday,? Taylor said. ?I still feel some pain but it alleviated most of it. I tried to do my best while I was on the court but I did get winded.?

According to Tech Assistant Athletic Trainer Anne Marquez, Taylor had a mold of her feet made late this week which were sent to Hanger Prosthetics and Orthodics in Monroe where the insoles for her shoes were made.

Marquez said these special insoles provide support for the arches in her feet.

Taylor wasn?t the only Techster who registered impressive offensive n
numbers in the win as Tasha Crain scored 25 points, Lakiste Barkus added 23 points, Tamika Kursh scored 11 points and added 14 rebounds and Shan Moore scored 10.

?We?re starting to see some offense,? Budke said. ?I think a huge key is Lakiste Barkus. Tasha is going to get hers. When Lakiste is shooting consistently, we are tough to guard. If Erica continues to improve then we will start to resemble the team I thought we would have this year.?

Barkus led a barrage of Tech three-pointers in the game as the senior hit 5-of-7 from downtown while the Techsters as a team made 9-of-16.

?We started the game in a man defense but we actually played both man and zone,? said Nevada assistant coach Kevin Chaney. ?Louisiana Tech is so athletic and talented that we needed to slow them down to give ourselves a chance. We were hoping that by giving them different looks, we could slow down their offense.?

After Nevada scored the first six points of the game, Tech ignited and entered the halftime locker room leading 49-35 thanks to 18 first half offensive rebounds and 16-of-24 from the free throw line.

Tech shot 56 percent from the field in the second half to end any hope of a Wolf Pack comeback.

Meghan McGuire scored 26 points while Jessica Preslar added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Nevada.