Boxscore

LOGAN, Utah -- Louisiana Tech guard Aarica Ray-Boyd has a new nickname ... Zone Buster.

On Saturday night before 367 fans at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, Ray-Boyd torched the Utah State Aggies 2-3 zone for a career-high 29 points leading the 24th ranked Lady Techsters to a 73-56 win.

The Texarkana, Texas, native hit 7-of-14 three-pointers, including 5-of-8 in the decisive second half, to lead Tech (16-4, 8-1 WAC) to its fifth straight win. The seven three-pointers ranks No. 3 in the Tech record books for a single game and was a career-high for Ray-Boyd, who also hit 8-of-10 free throws.

?We expected Utah State to play a zone,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?We knew we didn?t want to settle for three-pointers all night but we also knew we had to hit some. Aarica did a good job of making them pay when she got a chance.?

After a slow offensive start by both teams, Tech began to pull away midway through the first half. Ray-Boyd?s second three-pointer of the first half at the 7:48 mark capped the 10-0 run and gave the Lady Techsters a 22-9 lead.

Nastassja Levingson?s three-pointer with 1:55 to play in the opening stanza gave Tech a seemingly insurmountable 29-13 advantage. However, Utah State (1-17, 0-8 WAC) exploded for a 14-0 run capped by a 40-foot bank shot at the buzzer by guard Danyelle Snelgro to cut the Tech lead to 29-27 at the half.

?It was a frustrating first half,? Long said. ?The players were frustrated and I was frustrated. We didn?t play our best by any means but there was still no excuse for allowing them back in the game like we did at the end of the half.?

Making matters worse for Tech was the fact freshman guard Eboni Mangum was carried off the court with 6.5 seconds remaining in the first half with a knee injury. Mangum was diagnosed with a sprained knee at the half by the Utah State team doctor and sat out the second half for precautionary measures.

However, any momentum Utah State possessed at the half was quickly doused by the outside shooting of Ray-Boyd, who nailed four three-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half.

Ray-Boyd?s fourth three-pointer of the final half -- she hit Tech?s first four shots of the second half -- gave Tech a 41-35 lead with 15:45 to play.

Tech pushed its advantage back out to double digits at 48-37 on a jumper by Ty Moore with 11:44 to play. Utah State cut the deficit down to eight at 61-53 on a lay-up by Lindsey Freeze with 3:24 to play before Tech ended the game on a 12-3 run.

The Lady Techsters hit only 37 percent (23-63) from the field but did hit 8-of-21 three-pointers and 19-of-25 free throws while forcing 29 turnovers which led directly to 31 points.

Ray-Boyd was Tech?s only double digit scorer although Tasha Williams added six points, eight assists, five steals and four rebounds. Ty Moore scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds while Shan Moore added eight points and seven rebounds.

Jessica Freeman led Utah State with 18 points while Ashley Rutledge added 11 points and Snelgro chipped in with 10 points.