Feb. 7, 2008

Box Score

BOISE - Louisiana Tech played a strong 28 minutes of basketball Thursday night at Taco Bell Arena in Boise.

Unfortunately, Boise State played the full 40 minutes in a 70-54 Broncos win before 1,150 fans.

Tech (10-12, 4-5 WAC) scratched and clawed its way to a 27-26 halftime lead behind stellar defensive play and great rebounding. The Lady Techsters stayed within striking distance of the Broncos in the first eight minutes of the second half, trailing only 44-43 on a jumper by freshman Adrienne Johnson with 12:19 to play.

However, Tech hit only one field goal the rest of the way while Boise State outscored the Lady Techsters 26-11 to end the game.

"I was pleased with our effort in the first half," said Tech head coach Chris Long. "We controlled the tempo. Boise State is the best transition basketball team in the conference and we made them play the game at our pace in the first half.

"However, we didn't do the job in the second half. They started getting out and pushing it. They hurt us in transition and they hurt us on the boards."

After Johnson's field goal made the score 44-43, Boise State used a 12-0 run to up the advantage to 56-43 with 7:12 to play. A JoKeirra Sneed free throw at the 7:00 minute mark stopped the run but Tech would get no closer than 10 points.

Tech held Boise State (16-6, 8-2 WAC) to only 32 percent (24-74) shooting for the game, but it was the Broncos job on the offensive glass that ultimately doomed the Lady Techsters.

After outrebounding Boise State 28-19 in the first half, Tech saw the Broncos pull down 14 offensive rebounds in the second half and eventually won the rebounding war against Lady Techsters 45-44.

In the final 15 minutes of the contest, Boise State used those rebounds to give them a huge edge in field goal attempts as the Broncos hit 10-of-32 while Tech made only 2-of-14.

Sneed led Tech with 19 points and 15 rebounds, recording her 16th double double of the season. She was the lone Techster in double figures as Johnson, Tarkeisha Wysinger and Shanavia Dowdell each added eight points.

Jessica Thompson led Boise State with 20 points while Jackie Lee added 13 and Jamia Malone chipped in with 11.

Tech returns to action Saturday at Idaho at 9 p.m. CST.