Boxscore MEMPHIS ? Louisiana Tech overcame too many turnovers and poor free throw shooting to down Memphis 82-77 in the title game of the 2007 Lady Tiger Thanksgiving Classic at Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
Tech lead 75-62 on a three-pointer by
Nastassja Levingston at the 5:26 mark of the second half before Memphis made a valiant comeback cutting the deficit to 79-77 on a driving layup by Paris Leonard with 00:33 seconds left.
However,
Nastassja Levingston hit 1-of-2 free throws and all-tournament team member
Tarkeisha Wysinger made two more with 16.8 to play giving the Lady Techsters the championship title.
?I give Memphis a lot of credit,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?They played well and hit some big shots down the stretch when we were trying to pull away.
?I?m also proud of this team. Bottom line is we could have done a lot of things better, but we found a way to win. This is a young team on the road and we answered the call when it counted. We still have a long, long way to go.?
The first half saw eight lead changes and three ties as Tech entered the halftime locker room leading 42-34 thanks to a 10-0 run to end the half.
Sneed, who was named tournament team after recording double doubles in both wins, scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the first half as Tech shot 49 percent (17-35) from the field.
?Early on, we didn?t do a very good job of finding our post players against this zone,? Long said. ?I thought Tarkeisha did as good a job of anyone of getting them the ball in the first half and that?s what allowed us to build the lead.?
Tech appeared ready to pull away from the Tigers on numerous occasions in the final 20 minutes, building 13 point leads on three separate times. However, Memphis always had answers thanks to 52 percent shooting (16-31) in the final half.
Levingston was huge for Tech down the stretch, scoring 13 of Tech?s final 21 points of the game, including numerous jumpers answering Memphis buckets. For the game, Levingston was 6-of-8 from the field for 15 points.
?I can?t say enough about the job she did for us,? Long said. ?At the end, I was running every play for her trying to get her a shot. Shots that normally you wouldn?t want kids to shoot are good shots for her.?
Tech outrebounded the Tigers 47-30 in the game but hit only 15-of-28 free throws.
Memphis was led by Paris with 19 points and Jessica Hall with 14.
Tech returns to action Monday night against top-ranked Tennessee in Knoxville.
