Boxscore

MOSCOW, Idaho ? When Louisiana Tech senior guard Shan Moore left the game with 15 minutes left in the first half with an ankle injury, junior reserve Nastassja Levingston picked up her slack.

Levingston scored a career-high 13 points to lead five Lady Techsters in double figures as Tech defeated Idaho 87-66 Sunday night at Cowan Spectrum. The Ruston native hit 5-of-9 field goals, including 3-of-6 from the three-point line, and added three steals, two assists and one block in 18 minutes of action.

?I was so proud of Nastassja tonight,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?She has always been able to shoot the basketball as she showed tonight. It?s always been about playing defense and taking care of the basketball. Tonight we needed her and she came through for us.?

Idaho led 17-15 with 14 minutes to play in the first half when Louisiana Tech used an 11-0 run to grab a 26-17 advantage. Tech would not trail again.

After Liz Witte cut the Tech advantage to 26-21 on a four-point play with 10:09 to play, Tech pushed the advantage out to 35-21 on a jumper by Ty Moore with 8:15 remaining in the opening half. Tech led 45-34 at the half.

?I thought our bench really stepped up tonight,? Long said. ?Offensively, we shot the ball well. We hit some early shots from the perimeter and it just got us off to a great start. You could see the confidence grow as the game progressed.?

Tech never allowed Idaho to make a run in the second half as the Techsters upped their advantage to 17 early and the Vandals would get no closer than nine the rest of the night.

Ty Moore and Jo Sneed led Tech with 16 points each while Eboni Mangum added 11 and Tamika Kursh 10. Sneed led Tech in rebounding with 10, registering her third double double of the season.

Katie Madison led Idaho with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

For the night, Tech shot 44 percent (31-70) from the field, 43 percent (6-14) from the three-point line and 76 percent (19-25) from the free throw line.

Tech returns to action Saturday when the Lady Techsters host Fresno State at 7 p.m.