Boxscore

LOGAN, Utah ? Senior guard Shan Moore scored a game-high 17 points to lead four players in double figures as Louisiana Tech downed Utah State 72-57 Saturday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

With the victory and Boise State?s 81-70 overtime loss at Nevada earlier in the day, Tech (16-12, 11-4) took over sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings, ? game ahead of the Broncos.

?I?m proud of our team tonight,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ?This was a team that had won four of their last five; there was a lot of emotion here tonight being senior night. They are tough to defend. We didn?t play perfectly but we played well enough to win.?

The game was tight throughout the first 13 minutes of play as the contest was tied 10 different times without Utah State (11-15, 7-7) ever taking the lead. With the game tied at 23-23 on a Brittany Hagen three-pointer at the 6:56 mark, Tech went to a 2-3 zone and held the Aggies without a field goal over the next four plus minutes and led 34-23 on an 11-0 run.

Tech led 41-28 at the half.

?I thought the zone was the key to this game,? Long said. ?We got in foul trouble early trying to fight over the top of their screens and guard (Taylor Richards). They called it tight and we had to do something different. I thought we played it as well as I could have hoped and it really changed the complexion of the game.?

Tech extended its lead to 18 points in the second half at 63-45 with 7:07 to play before Utah State used a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to cut the deficit to 63-54.

?We just didn?t do a very good job of handling their pressure (during that run),? Long said. ?We didn?t jump to meet passes; we weren?t strong with the basketball. However, we kept our composure and won.?

In addition to Moore, Eboni Mangum added 13 points, Ty Moore 12 and Jo Sneed 10 points. Amber Metoyer had eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Brittany Phillips led Utah State with 17 points.

Tech ends its regular season Wednesday at home against New Mexico State at 7 p.m.