Boxscore

RENO, Nevada ? Sixteenth-ranked Louisiana Tech shot a season-high 57 percent from the field in defeating Idaho 80-57 Wednesday night in the first round of the 2006 Western Athletic Conference Tournament at the Lawlor Event Center.

The Lady Techsters (24-4) hit 63 percent of its field goals in the opening 20 minutes to build a 42-24 halftime lead as the Vandals (10-19) got no closer than 10 points the second half.

With the victory Tech advances to Friday?s semifinal contest against the Nevada Wolf Pack, a 76-61 winner over San Jose State.

?We got a lot of good looks which was the key to the first half,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?Tonight was a good representation of how we play. We had four girls in double figures. I felt we were very balanced offensively.?

Aarica Ray-Boyd led Tech with 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals while Tasha Williams added 17 points and nine assists as Louisiana Tech won its 13 straight game dating back to a Jan. 14 loss at Fresno State.

Ty Moore scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Shan Moore added 12 points in the win.

?I thought Louisiana Tech played at another level tonight,? said Idaho head coach Mike Divilbis. ?They played better than they played in our first two games. They made us pay for every mistake. We weren?t bad tonight. They were really good.?

After turning the basketball over on its first five possessions, Louisiana Tech settled down and started executing offensively although Idaho stayed close. Leading 21-16 midway through the first half, the Lady Techsters used a 16-2 run to build a 37-18 advantage with 1:58 to play.

Despite shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, Idaho trailed by 18 thanks in large part to Tech outrebounding the Vandals 17-5 in the opening 20 minutes. For the game, Tech won the rebounding battle 39-17.

?For our team to be good we have to rebound,? Long said. ?I was pleased with our board work tonight.?

Tech upped its lead to 52-28 with 15:47 to play before Idaho fought back, cutting the advantage to 60-50 on a pair of Emily Faurholt free throws with 7:48 to play. The Techsters then used a 12-3 run over the next three minutes to pull away for the win.

?Coming in we knew that the team that came out to play would win,? Williams said. ?We wanted to play energized.?

Leilani Mitchell led Idaho with 21 points while Faurholt added 14.