Boxscore

BOISE, Idaho ? Tasha Williams scored 20 points, including five in a critical stretch late in the game, to lead 24th ranked Louisiana Tech to a 72-59 win over Boise State before 824 fans at Taco Bell Arena Saturday afternoon.

After Boise State cut an 18-point Tech lead down to 58-50 with five minutes to play, Williams ? the reigning Western Athletic Conference player of the year ? scored five of Tech?s next six points to push the lead back to 64-52 with just over two minutes remaining.

?When the game got tight, Tasha took over and did what great players do; she delivered,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?I wanted the ball in her hands. We also did a good job of hitting free throws as a team down the stretch.?

Tech (20-4, 12-1 WAC) hit 15-of-18 free throws in the second half, including 10-of-10 in the final three minutes of play, to help win its ninth game in a row and 15th of its last 16.

After scoring the first four points of the game, Tech watched Boise State (13-12, 5-8 WAC) use a 17-5 run to take its biggest lead of the contest at 17-9 with 12:22 to play in the first half.

?The second game of a two-game road swing is always tough,? Long said. ?We didn?t come out with the energy we needed. To Boise State?s credit, they shot the ball extremely well early which we knew they were capable of doing. I thought they hurt us early with their transition offense.?

Boise State hit 7-of-10 shots to start the game, including a trio of three-pointers, to give the Taco Bell Arena fans some hope. However, Tech then turned up the defensive pressure, limiting the Broncos to only 5-of-18 the rest of the half as the Lady Techsters took a 36-32 lead into the locker room.

?I felt like from around the eight minute mark of the first half on, we locked in defensively,? Long said. ?We played much better.?

Tech quickly pushed its four point advantage out to double digits in the second half as Boise State connected on only 3-of-14 field goals to begin the final 20 minutes of play. A 12-2 Tech run allowed the Lady Techsters to grab what appeared to be commanding 58-40 lead at the midway mark of the second half.

However, behind the inside play of Michelle Hessing and the perimeter scoring of Jackie Lee and Jessica Thompson, Boise State fought back.

?I?m proud of our players because this was one of those games that we had to grind out,? Long said. ?Our mental toughness is so much better than last year and that?s why we are winning some of these close games.?

Aarica Ray-Boyd added 17 points and seven rebounds while Shan Moore chipped in with 11 points for Tech.

Lee and Hessing led Boise State with 15 points.