Boxscore RUSTON, La. ? The eighth-ranked LSU Lady Tigers got double-digit scoring from four players and shot 50 percent from the field as they defeated Louisiana Tech, 76-45, before 5,539 at the Thomas Assembly Center on Sunday afternoon.
Louisiana Tech (4-6) continued to struggle offensively, shooting 26.7 percent from the floor and only 52.6 percent at the free throw line. LSU (8-2) made a living off 15- to 18-foot jumpers, knocking down 13 shots from that range in the game, and held a 46-39 rebounding advantage.
?Despite the score, I was proud of our basketball team,? Louisiana Tech coach Chris Long said. ?We did a lot of good things. We were close in the rebounding margin, and we hung with them for a half.
?They are so good defensively that they can have an off-night shooting and still win. But when they?re shooting well like they did tonight, they can win the national championship.?
All-American Sylvia Fowles led all scorers with 16 points and also pulled down eight rebounds as Tech held the 6-6 senior below her season average in both categories. Rashonta LeBlanc, Ashley Thomas and Marian Whitfield added 10 points apiece for the Lady Tigers.
?Our game plan was to provide help on Fowles,? Long said. ?Their four-player Ashley Thomas was shooting 23 percent on the year coming in, and she got hot (5-of-7 from the floor). They hit some big shots.?
Louisiana Tech?s
Shanavia Dowdell picked up her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Tiawana Pringle led the Lady Techsters with 12 points, and
JoKeirra Sneed added 10 of her own.
?Pringle was shooting well early,? Long said. ?But then she hit some foul trouble and that hurt our momentum a little bit. I was very pleased with
JoKeirra Sneed?s effort tonight, guarding Sylvia Fowles is no easy task.?
LSU jumped out to an early 10-point lead as the Lady Tigers knocked down eight of their first nine field goal attempts. Tech would go on a 7-0 run to cut the margin to 18-15 with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half on the strength of a Pringle three-pointer and layups from Sneed and Dowdell.
Turnovers and poor shooting would be the Lady Techsters? undoing later in the half on as they gave it away 14 times and only managed one field goal in the final seven minutes of the period. LSU, meanwhile, stayed hot, going on a 14-2 run to close the period.
The shooting drought would carry over through halftime for Tech as a jumper by
Keshia Warren at the 13:29 mark would be the home team?s first field goal of the half. It would be one of only seven made shots for Tech in the half while LSU matched its first-half effort shot-for-shot at 50 percent.
?We need some practice time,? Long said. ?With four games in nine days, that has been tough. We?re going to get in a couple of good days before we go to Little Rock, and then a few more good practices over the Christmas break.?
Louisiana Tech will play its final game before the holiday break on Thursday, Dec. 20, as it travels to Little Rock to take on UALR. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., and the broadcast can be heard on ESPN 97.7 FM or on the web at www.espn977.com.
