Feb. 15, 2009

RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech made a statement to the rest of the Western Athletic Conference Sunday afternoon when the Lady Techsters defeated Nevada 77-59 before 1,720 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.

No one would have to read between the lines to understand the message as the Lady Techsters dismantled the Wolf Pack from start to finish and climbed into a three-way tie for third place -- only one game behind league-leading Fresno State and Idaho.

Tech (14-11, 7-4 WAC) shot a season-best 55 percent from the field (31-56) as interim head coach Teresa Weatherspoon won her second game in two tries since taking over the program last Monday.

Perhaps the biggest key to the victory for Tech was a 43-27 advantage on the boards, an area that Nevada dominated in its 64-57 win over the Lady Techsters Jan. 8 in Reno.

"That was huge," Weatherspoon said. "We stressed to this team that Nevada was outrebounding everyone in this league. It was important to do more than just rebound. We needed to put a body on people and get them out of there; rebound, attack and let's run."

And run is just what the Lady Techsters did. In fact, Tech sprinted out to a 29-6 advantage at the 5:39 mark of the first half thanks to an impressive man-to-man defensive performance and hot marksmanship. Tech hit 14 of its first 24 shots from the field.

"Getting off to a good start was important for us," Weatherspoon said. "Pringle came out strong and wanted the team to follow her. She got us jump started and everyone followed her lead. The ladies seemed more excited today, not as heavy with emotions. They knew it was an important game for us."

Pringle hit her first two shots from the field and her teammates followed suit. And even after Pringle and Adrienne Johnson picked up two personal fouls each in the opening five minutes forcing Weatherspoon to sit them for the remainder of the half, the Techsters didn't falter.

"I thought our bench gave us some great minutes," Weatherspoon said. "These players trust one another. That's important."

Nevada made a run late in the first half, cutting Tech's 23-point advantage down to 36-23 at the half.

"We got tired," Weatherspoon said. "We got tired and we didn't make the same plays we were making early in the game. However, I was proud of how we answered the run in the second half."

Nevada came out of the locker room and cut the Tech lead to 48-40 at the 12:20 mark on a three-pointer by Megan Cherry. However, the Lady Techsters responded with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes of play sparked by six points from Adrienne Johnson and five from Whitney Jones.

Nevada would get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Dowdell led Tech with 20 points and nine rebounds while Jones score 16 points and Johnson added 14 points.

Johnna Ward led Nevada with 12 points while Brandi Jones added 10.

Tech returns to action Friday when it travels to San Jose to face the Spartans at 9 p.m. CST.