Nov. 14, 2008

Box Score

RUSTON -- Adrienne Johnson scored a career-high 22 points and Shanavia Dowdell added 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech to a 77-36 win over Central Arkansas before 1,642 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center Friday night.

Tech (1-0), which improves to 28-7 all-time in season openers, used a 14-0 run to close the first half to take a 40-21 halftime lead and then started the second half on a 21-1 run to put the game away.

"We got off to a slow start and missed some easy one early," said Tech head coach Chris Long. "So did they. I think both teams were a little nervous. However, once we settled down, I thought we got the basketball inside and Johnson and Dowdell did a good job of finishing.

"We started to get a little more production from our guards late in the half and then in the second half."

After Jamye Adair hit two free throws at the 6:55 mark of the first half to pull UCA to 26-21, Tech held the Sugar Bears 15 minutes and 36 seconds without a field goal before Nakeia Guiden hit a fast break layup at the 11:19 mark of the game.

By then, Tech led 61-24.

"I thought we were active defensively," Long said. "We got our hands on a lot of passes and had a lot of deflections. For our team to reach its potential, we are going to have to be a good defensive team. We are going to score better this year, but the defensive end will win games for you and this was a good start."

Johnson hit 9-of-19 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws in 28 minutes of action while adding six rebounds, four steals and one block. Dowdell connected on 8-of-15 shots, including 1-of-2 from downtown, but made only 1-of-6 free throws although she did control the boards with 13 rebounds.

Whitney Jones, playing for the first time since her Dec. 8 injury last year, added 12 points and nine rebounds while Sidney Stewart scored 11 points for Tech.

Jamye Adair was the lone Central Arkansas player in double digits with 15 points.

Tech shot 43 percent (32-75) from the field but only 10-of-21 from the free throw line while holding UCA to only 20 percent (11-55) shooting. The Lady Techsters ourebounded the Sugar Bears 60-35.

Tech returns to action Tuesday when it travels to Memphis to face the Tigers at 7 p.m.