Jan. 18, 2009

Box Score

RUSTON -- Shanavia Dowdell scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead four Louisiana Tech players in double figures as the Lady Techsters downed San Jose State 70-53 Sunday afternoon at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Whitney Jones, Adrienne Johnson and Brietta Thomas each added 12 points as Tech (9-9, 2-2 WAC) remained perfect all-time against the Spartans (2-15, 1-3).

"I thought we played better as the game wore on," Long said. "I didn't expect to see a 2-3 zone the entire game, but I felt like we executed better as the game progressed. I thought we made some big defensive stops with about 10 minutes to play and really rebounded the ball well at the critical time. We were able to pull away."

Despite being swarmed all afternoon by a 2-3 zone defense implemented by the Spartans, Dowdell hit 8-of-11 field goals in 32 minutes while recording her WAC-leading 10th double double of the season.

Thomas came off the Tech bench and provided some offensive production, hitting 4-of-8 field goals, including a pair of three-pointers, in 13 minutes of action.

"We had a nice balance scoring today, and it's important that we do that on a nightly basis," Long said. "I thought Brietta Thomas off the bench provided a nice spark for us."

The game was close throughout the first half as Tech neither team led by more than four points in the first 10 minutes of play and San Jose State took its only lead of the game at 16-15 on a three-pointer by Chasity Shavers at the 10:50 mark of the opening half. The Spartans hit five of their first eight shots from the field.

However, Tech answered with an 8-0 run sparked by four points from Dowdell to take a 23-16 lead with six minutes to play in the half. The Spartans fought back to cut the deficit to two at 25-23 with 3:25 to play on a Kelly Blair trifecta before the Lady Techsters answered again with a 7-0 run to grab a nine point advantage.

Tech led 32-25 at the half behind Dowdell's 10 first half points.

The second half was more of the same as San Jose State stayed within arm's reach of Tech as the Lady Techsters weren't able to grab a double digit lead until a Johnson layup at the 11:03 mark of the game.

SJSU continued to hang around as the Spartans trailed 54-46 on a pair of free throws by Shavers at the 6:45 mark before back-to-back three-pointers by Sidney Stewart and Thomas pushed the lead out to 63-47 with 2:36 to play.

San Jose State would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way.

Stewart added eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals while Tiawana Pringle chipped in to the win with eight points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Shavers and Blair each led SJSU with 17 points.

Tech shot 46 percent (26-57) from the field while holding San Jose State to only 31 percent (18-59) shooting. The Spartans knocked down eight three-pointers

Tech returns to action Friday night when the Lady Techsters face Idaho at 9 p.m. at Cowan Spectrum in Moscow.