Dec. 22, 2009

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RUSTON - Ten minutes into Tuesday night's game against Memphis, Louisiana Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon wasn't having a Merry Christmas.

Weatherspoon had just watched her team commit five turnovers in a two-minute span that led to a 13-0 Tigers run and a 28-15 Memphis advantage.

Following a 30-second timeout by Weatherspoon, her team responded erupting for a 16-0 run over the next four-plus minutes. A jumper by Adrienne Johnson at the 5:40 mark of the half gave the Lady Techsters a 31-28 lead.

"We got off to an awful start," said Weatherspoon, who saw her team surrender 30 points off of 21 turnovers in the game. "We couldn't get the ball into the front court during that one stretch. We gave up five straight layups off turnovers.

"Memphis was picking us up full court because we felt they would have had a tough time against us in the half court, and then we played right into their hands with all the turnovers. We started settling down and taking it at them, and we got some easy baskets."

Although Memphis (5-6) would lead 40-39 at the break, the Lady Techsters (6-3) were right back in the game.

"I thought the 16-0 run and how quickly it happened for us was critical," Weatherspoon said. "I'm not sure if we could have gotten back into the game tonight if we had stayed down (double digits) for any length of time. At the end of the day, we found a way to win."

Although Johnson (11 points) and Whitney Jones (10) led LA Tech in scoring in the first half, it was the play of reserves Tarkeisha Wysinger and Martina Holloway that triggered the energy needed to fight back.

"We also talk to the girls about how they never know when they will be called upon," Weatherspoon said. "With Jasmine out tonight, we needed those two and they both responded. They made some big plays for us tonight."

Bendolph, Tech's starting point guard, played only six minutes early in the game trying to contribute despite being sick but the sophomore simply didn't have the energy or strength to combat the Memphis press.

Holloway responded by logging career highs in points (10), rebounds (8), assists (5) and minutes (30), including a couple of big three-pointers in the second half. Her second trifecta of the night at the 14:36 mark gave Tech its biggest lead of the night at 55-48.

However, Memphis responded, using a 12-4 run over the next three minutes to retake the lead at 60-59 on a long three-pointer by Alex Winchell.

With the two teams tied at 62-62, Tech scored six straight points capped by a three-point play by Wysinger at the 9:15 mark to take a 68-62 lead. Memphis would close the gap to 76-73 with three minutes to play before Shanavia Dowdell hit a 15-footer to make it 78-73 and then Johnson hit back-to-back shots to give the Lady Techsters a more comfortable 82-73 lead with just over a minute to play.

"We haven't even come close to tapping the potential that Adrienne has," Weatherspoon said. "She was all over the place tonight. She was huge on the offensive end and then came up with some big blocks at critical times on the defensive end."

Johnson ended the night with 23 points, eight rebounds, a career-high five assists, a season-high five blocks and three steals in 37 minutes.

Jones added a season-high 19 points while Dowdell scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Wysinger scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and recorded four steals in 23 minutes.

Defensively, the Lady Techsters held Brittany Carter, the nation's 14th leading scorer, to only 10 points on 4-of-20 shooting. Winchell led Memphis with 18 points while Ramses Lonlack added 16 points.

Tech shot 48 percent (30-63) from the field but struggled at the free throw line, hitting only 21-of-35 for the game. Memphis shot 44 percent (32-73) from the field. The Lady Techsters outrebounded Memphis 45-42.

Tech returns to action Dec. 29 when it travels to San Antonio to face Stephen F. Austin at 5 p.m.