Nov. 30, 2008

Box Score

RUSTON -- Amy McNear's 15-footer turnaround jumper with 0.8 seconds to play lifted Western Kentucky to a 60-59 win over Louisiana Tech at the Thomas Assembly Center Sunday afternoon.

McNear's game-winning jumper came after Tech sophomore Adrienne Johnson hit two free throws with 7.6 seconds remaining to give the Lady Techsters a 59-58 lead. The lead came after Tech had trailed by as many as eight points at 55-47 on a Kenzie Rich three-pointer with 3:00 to play in the game.

"Our kids gave a tremendous effort to come back from eight points down and have a lead with eight seconds left," said Tech head coach Chris Long. "I thought we defended the last play as well as we could have. We didn't let them get to the basket and didn't foul them, and (McNear) hit a fade away jump shot. It's hard to lose any game but really hard to lose that way."

The loss spoiled a career performance by Tech junior forward Shanavia Dowdell, who put her team on her back offensively, scoring 30 points and grabbing 16 rebounds despite going down with four minutes to play in the first half with a knee injury.

Dowdell, who returned and played the entire second half with a sleeve on her injured knee, hit 13-of-20 field goals and 2-of-2 three pointers while also recorded two blocks and one assist.

"I was so proud of her tonight," Long said. "It was an incredible effort. She gets hurt in first half and limps out of dressing room at halftime and still goes out and has the best game of her career. You hate to lose any game and you hate to lose on a last second shot, but I really hated it for her because I thought she put the team on her back."

Tech jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Western rallied back and took a 30-25 lead into the halftime locker room, thanks to the first half performance of Arnika Brown who had 12 of her 14 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Tech opened the second half with a stellar defensive performance and grabbed a 41-36 lead midway through the second half before the Lady Toppers used a 19-6 run to pull out to a 55-47 lead on a Rich's three-pointer.

Dowdell and Sidney Stewart both nailed three-pointers to bring Tech within 57-53 with 1:27 to play in the game. Another Dowdell bucket followed by a WKU free throw made the score 58-55 with 0:55 to play.

Jasmine Bendolph then hit two free throws with 44 second to play to cut the lead to 58-57. After Tech pulled down a defensive rebound of a Brown miss with 17 seconds to play, Johnson was fouled in the lane and hit both free throws to give her team the lead, setting up the heroics for McNear.

"Western has a good basketball team," Long said. "I think without a doubt it will help us in the long run. I thought we played well under pressure in last few minutes and that will pay off down the road. We made plays at the end of the game and had a chance to win it. We hit some big free throws."

Whitney Jones added 13 points for Tech which shot only 30 percent from the field. The Techsters did outrebound Western 48-42, including pulling down 25 offensive rebounds in the game.

Tech returns to action Wednesday when its travels to Starkville to face Mississippi State.