Dec. 1, 2009

Box Score | Photo Gallery

RUSTON - If Tuesday night against 7th-ranked LSU was a statement game for Louisiana Tech, the Lady Techsters sent a pretty loud message to the women's basketball world.

One of the most storied programs in the history of the game is making a comeback.

Head coach Teresa Weatherspoon and Co. used an incredible second half offensive performance to whittle a 17-point deficit down to one in the final minute before the Lady Tigers hit two clutch free throws with 12 seconds to play to escape with a 77-74 victory before 4,924 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.

"I'm so proud of this basketball team," Weatherspoon said. "Make no mistake about it; there is no moral victory tonight. We came into this game expecting to win. We didn't show up hoping to play LSU close. "

With Tech (3-1) trailing 75-74 on a Whitney Jones layup with 17 seconds to play, the Lady Techsters fouled LSU guard Allison Hightower with 16 seconds left, sending her to the free throw line. Hightower, who scored a game-high 32 points, missed the front end of a one-and-one but LaSondra Barrett pulled down an offensive rebound.

Tech then fouled Latear Eason with 12.6 seconds to play and Eason calmly sank both free throws to up the LSU advantage to 77-74. After a timeout, Tech tried to get Brietta Thomas open for a three-pointer but LSU guarded the play well and junior forward Adrienne Johnson was forced to attempt a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer that fell just short.

"That was a great basketball team we just played," Weatherspoon said. "That was a great basketball game. It was two teams who both gave full effort for 40 minutes. We made some mistakes and we have to learn from them. I know we will."

With just over 17 minutes to play in the game, Weatherspoon had seen more mistakes then she probably cared to admit as LSU used a 12-2 run to close the first half to grab a 43-28 halftime advantage.

A LaSondra Barrett bucket with 17:02 to play in the second half gave LSU a 52-35 advantage before the Lady Techsters showed that they have the talent and desire to play with the best teams in the country.

Reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year Shanavia Dowdell scored with 16:47 to play to trigger a 10-0 LA Tech run over the next three minutes as the Lady Techsters cut the deficit to 52-45. Five different Techsters scored during the run as Weatherspoon saw her team turn up the defensive intensity on LSU guard Allison Hightower, who torched Tech for 25 first half points.

Hightower hit 8-of-13 field goals, 3-of-4 three-pointers including a one-handed 30-footer with the shot clock running down and 6-of-9 free throws in the opening 20 minutes to single-handedly give the Tigers the 15-point halftime lead.

However, Tech adjusted and limited the All-American candidate to only seven points in the second half on 2-of-10 shooting as the Lady Techsters slowly climbed back into the game.

"Allowing her to score 25 points in the first half was unacceptable," Weatherspoon said. "She is a tremendous player, no question about that. However, we didn't do our job defensively on her in the first half. We did a much better job in the second half defensively."

Tech also turned it up a notch offensively against one of the nation's top defensive teams. LSU entered the contest only allowing 45 points game but LA Tech hit 59 percent (17-of-29) of its field goals over the final 20 minutes of play and outscored the Tigers 46-34.

Dowdell spearheaded the effort with a team-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting while Johnson chipped in with 17 points. Jasmine Bendolph and Jones each recorded 11 points in the loss.

"We settled down in the second half," Weatherspoon said. "Instead of taking the shots that LSU wanted us to take, we ran our offense and got the shots we wanted. They started double teaming our posts and they were patient and found cutters for open layups."

Tech cut the LSU to one point on three different occasions inside the final two minutes but the Tigers answered every time as the Lady Techsters never gained possession of the ball with a chance to take the lead.

In addition to Hightower's 32 points, Barrett added 14 points and Taylor Turnbow scored 12 points.

LSU outrebounded LA Tech 40-24.

Tech returns to action Saturday when it faces 8th ranked Baylor at 5 p.m. in a game that will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.