March 7, 2009

Box Score

LAS CRUCES -- Shanavia Dowdell scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech to a 78-69 win over New Mexico State Saturday night at the Pan American Center.

With the victory, Tech (19-11, 12-4) clinched a share of the 2009 Western Athletic Conference regular season title with Fresno State and will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming league tournament in Reno, Nevada.

Tech will face No. 7 seed New Mexico State Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. CST in the first round of the WAC Tournament.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of this team," said interim head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "Everyone thought that the Fresno State was a big win, but I think this one was just as big. We knew this wouldn't be easy and it wasn't. New Mexico State is a very good team at home and they showed it.

"Our kids battled. We locked down defensively in the second half and made plays down the stretch. This was a team win and a team title. These kids deserve it."

The WAC title didn't come easy for LA Tech. En route to their seventh straight victory, the Lady Techsters had to overcome an ice-cold start to the game as Tech hit only 4 of its first 28 field goal attempts out of the gate.

A pair of Kelsie Rozendaal free throws at the 6:41 mark of the first half gave New Mexico State a comfortable 29-14 lead. It wasn't comfortable for long though as Tech reeled off a 13-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the advantage down to 29-27.

After the Aggies pushed the lead back out to 33-27, Dowdell hit two free throws and Tarkeisha Wysinger nailed a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 33-32. NMSU would lead 38-34 at the half.

New Mexico State hurt LA Tech on the glass in the first half, outscoring the Lady Techsters 18-3 on second chance points en route to the four-point lead. Tech would make the necessary adjustments at the half.

Dowdell gave Tech its first lead of the game on a 17-foot jumper shot at the 17:19 mark before NMSU retook the advantage at 47-45 four minutes later on a Tabytha Wampler layup.

The game was tied at 49-49 with 11:20 to play when Tech used a 12-3 run over the next five minutes to build a 61-52 advantage.

However, the undersized Aggies never surrendered and pulled to within 63-60 on a pair of Brittany Palmer free throws with 4:00 to play, but it was as close as New Mexico State would get.

In addition to Dowdell's performance, Whitney Jones added 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and was the only other Tech player in double figures.

Spence led the Aggies with 26 points while Danisha Corbett scored 11.

For the game, Tech shot 38 percent (25-66) from the field and 71 percent (24-34) from the free throw line. NMSU hit 35 percent (25-71) of its field goals.

Tech outrebounded NMSU 54-42.

The WAC title is the seventh in eight years for LA Tech and the 19th in the program's 22-years of conference affiliation.

WAC Tournament Brackets

Tuesday, March 10

(8) Hawaii vs. (9) San Jose State 7 p.m. CST

Wednesday, March 11

(4) Idaho vs. (5) Utah State at 2 p.m. CST

(1) Fresno State vs. winner of (8) Hawaii/(9) San Jose State at 4:30 p.m. CST

(3) Nevada vs. (6) Boise State at 8 p.m. CSt

(2) LA Tech vs. (7) New Mexico State at 10:30 p.m. CST

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