Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score

MOSCOW - Senior forward Jo Sneed scored 26 points to lead Louisiana Tech to an 80-55 win over Idaho at Cowan Spectrum Saturday night.

However, it was Louisiana Tech's defensive effort in the first half of the game that fueled the win, snapping a two-game losing skid.

"I was proud of our team tonight," said head coach Chris Long. "I tried to downplay it but I was really worried coming into this game about our legs. We've played four games in seven days. We've had to play the starters a lot of minutes. We've had a tough road trip.

"It was a big challenge keeping our kids focused; this was a game we had to have. I thought we executed extremely well offensively. And defensively, we were very, very good."

After Idaho took a 2-1 lead on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Katie Madison, Tech used an 18-0 run over the nine minutes to grab a 19-2 advantage. Idaho didn't hit their first field goal until the 10:32 mark when Sarah Dennehy hit a driving layup. The Vandals missed their first 15 attempts.

The Lady Techsters (11-12, 5-5 WAC) pushed their advantage out to 25 at 33-8 at the 5:23 mark on a layup by Tarkeisha Wysinger before Idaho (2-20, 1-8) closed the half on a 14-8 run, making the halftime score 41-22.

Wysinger ended with 14 points, five steals, four assists and three rebounds in one of her best performances of the year.

"I thought she played really well," Long said. "We have to have that from her. She played really well offensively, shot the ball well and made some nice post entry passes. I thought she took good shots and attacked the basket."

Tech shot 62 percent (16-26) from the field in the first half while holding the Vandals to only 24 percent (7-29).

Idaho played much better in the final 20 minutes as the Vandals cut Tech's lead to 13 at 53-40 with 9:31 to play on a three-pointer by LaKenya Simon-West.

However, Tech answered and eventually pushed its advantage out to as many as 27 before coasting to the 80-55 win.

For the game, Tech shot a season high 58 percent (30-52) while hitting 6-of-9 three-pointers.

Shanavia Dowdell added 10 points, seven rebounds and a career-high five blocks in the win.

Madison led Idaho with 20 points.

Tech returns to action Thursday when it travels to Las Cruces to face New Mexico State at 8 p.m.