Boxscore

RUSTON ? Dellena Criner?s 10-foot jumper with 0:42 remaining proved to be the game winner as Nevada downed Louisiana Tech 55-54 before 2,125 fans Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Tech junior JoKeirra Sneed missed two free throws with less than a minute remaining and Tech leading 54-53. Criner raced up the court and hit the running jumper in the lane, giving the Wolf Pack (10-8, 4-1 WAC) the one-point lead.

Tech (8-10, 3-2 WAC) had two opportunities to retake the lead but April Williams missed a jumper with 0:23 remaining and then following two missed Nevada free throws, the Lady Techsters were unable to get a shot off as the Wolf Pack won for the first time ever in the series.

Free throw shooting proved to be Tech?s ultimate downfall as the Lady Techsters made only 6-of-17 in the contest, including the two misses in the final minute that could have given Tech a three-point lead.

?It just seems like the more we work on it in practice, the worse we get,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?It?s a shame because I felt like we did too many good things to let this one get away.

?I thought we defended them well, and I thought we did another good job on the boards. We played hard tonight, but you can?t miss as many free throws as we did in a close game and expect to win. We are going to come out tomorrow and get back to work, and we are going to get better.?

In a first half that saw the two teams combine to make only 17 of 55 shots, Tech missed 7-of-9 free throws and entered the halftime locker room tied 20-20 with the Wolf Pack.

Nevada came out in the second half and took an early lead and eventually pushed it out to 46-39 on a pair of free throws by Jessica Preslar with 7:37 to play. However, Tech answered with a 13-3 run and grabbed a 52-49 lead with 2:35 to play on a pair of free throws by senior guard Shan Moore.

On the Wolf Pack?s ensuing possession, Tech appeared to have a loose basketball but Criner gained control and found Traci Graham for a wide open three-pointer and a 52-52 tie.

After a Ty Moore jumper gave Tech a 54-52 lead, Preslar hit one of two from the charity stripe with 1:05 to play setting the stage for the final minute of action.

Shan Moore scored 14 points to lead Tech while Sneed added 11 points and Ty Moore registered her ninth double double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Graham was the lone Nevada player in double figures with 14 points.

Tech returns to action Sunday at 9 p.m. CST at Idaho.