Feb. 8, 2009

Box Score

RUSTON -- Boise State built a 13-point second half lead and then held off a late Louisiana Tech rally to defeat the Lady Techsters 66-61 at the Thomas Assembly Center Sunday afternoon.

Tech had two opportunities to tie the game up in the final 25 seconds of regulation, but Shanavia Dowdell's three-pointer from the right corner was off and then Whitney Jones well-contested three-pointer with six seconds to play was long as Boise State pulled down the miss.

Courtney VanBrocklin hit two free throws with three seconds to left to seal the victory for the Broncos.

With the loss, LA Tech (12-11, 5-4) missed an opportunity to make ground in the Western Athletic Conference title race while Boise State (13-10, 6-3) moved to within one game of league-leading Fresno State and Nevada.

"I thought we got off to a good start especially defensively; we held them around 10 points for quite a stretch," said Tech head coach Chris Long. "We were up like 14-10 for the longest time and missed a number of opportunities to really extend the lead.

"Boise State got rolling and hit some three's and made some transition buckets, and we couldn't get to halftime quick enough so we could make some adjustments. I was disappointed with how we closed the first half and started the second."

The Broncos led 44-31 with 16 minutes to play in the game as Brittany Moore's three-pointer capped a 32-10 Boise State run that saw the Broncos erase a nine-point deficit over a 10 minute stretch covering the final six minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.

However, the Techsters wouldn't go away quietly as Tech started to mount its comeback Trailing 52-41 with 10:46 to play on a lay-up by Marisa Stotler, Tech used a 14-4 run over the next seven minutes to cut the deficit to 56-55 on a conventional three-point play by freshman Kiara Young.

"I thought over the last 10 minutes of the game, we crashed the offensive glass as well as you can," Long said. "We were relentless and that's what got us back in the game. We had some chances late but you have to give Boise State a lot of credit. They didn't fold and made some plays and hit some free throws."

Tiawana Pringle had a chance to tie the game with 2:06 to play after being fouled while hitting a baseline jump shot to cut the deficit to 60-59. However, Pringle's free throw was no good and Boise State answered on the offensive end with a backdoor layup by Brittany Moore.

Tech made only 6-of-16 free throws in the game, including only 4-of-11 in the final 20 minutes of play.

Adrienne Johnson led Tech with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Whitney Jones added 12 points and Dowdell chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Moore led Boise State with 16 points while Jamia Malone added 12 and Stotler scored 11.

Tech returns to action Friday when it hosts Hawaii at 7 p.m.