Feb. 28, 2009

Box Score

RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech used one of its best defensive performances of the season to down Utah State 53-46 Saturday night in an important Western Athletic Conference game at the Thomas Assembly Center.

With the win, Tech (17-11, 10-4 WAC) set up a showdown Monday night against league-leader Fresno State (19-7, 10-3) at 9 p.m. at the Save Mart Center in California.

Head coach Teresa Weatherspoon's team won its fifth straight game and unlike the past three wins where the Lady Techsters shot over 50 percent and outscored its opposition in high-scoring contests, this time LA Tech hung its hat on the defensive end of the floor.

Tech held the Aggies to 29 percent (18-63) shooting and limited Utah State's top two scorers Danyelle Snelgro and Ana Pares to a combined 3-of-25 shooting and only 11 points.

The defensive effort helped Tech overcome a poor shooting performance as the Lady Techsters hit only 36 percent (20-55) of its shots.

"It was a big win for us," Weatherspoon said. "It wasn't as pretty as you might like but a win is a win. When you have young ladies who are playing as hard as ours are, you can live with it. We didn't shoot the ball very well, but we defended. When you hold an opponent to 28 percent, you are going to be successful."

After Tech jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, Utah State rallied back as the Aggies took their first lead of the game at 16-15 on a shot by Amber White at the 8:47 mark. Trailing 18-17, Tech used a 5-0 mini-run to grab a 22-18 advantage and eventually took a 26-22 lead into the halftime locker room.

Adrienne Johnson and Shanavia Dowdell combined to score 23 of the Lady Techsters 26 first half points.

The offensive struggles for both teams continued in the second half as Tech eventually willed itself to a 36-27 lead on a jumper by Whitney Jones at the 12:34 mark but the Aggies wouldn't go quietly. Alice Coddington's layup at the 10:24 mark pulled Utah State within four at 38-34 before Tech pushed the advantage back out to 48-37 on a Tiawana Pringle layup with two minutes to play.

Utah State would get no closer than five points down the stretch as Tech handed the Aggies their first loss in their last five games.

Johnson finished the night with 20 points, five rebounds and three blocks while Dowdell added 18 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Jones chipped in with 10 points.

Shawnta Pope led Utah State with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Snelgro, who had scored 20 or more points in three of the last four games, was only 2-of-11 from the field and finished with nine points. Pares, who averaged almost 14 points a game, was 1-of-14 from the field for two points.

Tech outrebounded Utah State 47-40.