Feb. 3, 2010

Box Score

RUSTON - Adrienne Johnson scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech to a 75-53 win over Boise State Wednesday night in Western Athletic Conference action at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Johnson, who had only scored a total of 16 points in her last two games, erupted for her fourth double double of the season, hitting 7-of-14 field goals and 9-of-11 free throws in 31 minutes of action.

"Adrienne played under control tonight," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "She let the game come to her. She didn't press. I thought she looked like her old self and she was so big for us."

Johnson was joined in double figures by four teammates as Shanavia Dowdell, Tarkeisha Wysinger, Whitney Jones and Jasmine Bendolph each scored 10 points. Dowdell added 17 rebounds for her WAC-leading 13th double double of the year.

"Anytime we get that kind of production spread out we are going to be successful," Weatherspoon said. "I thought Jasmine Bendolph was as healthy as she has been this year and you are really starting to see her come into her own."

While Tech's two leading scorers were doing what they do best, Boise State's normal offensive threats of Tasha Harris and Jessica Van Hoogen struggled, combing for only 13 points on 9-of-27 shooting.

"They are so tough to defend," Weatherspoon said. "We threw everyone at them. I thought we did a good job against them and that is a tribute to our players playing with great effort."

After Boise State held its only lead of the night at 3-2, Tech built a 19-10 advantage as six different Lady Techsters scored in the opening nine minutes of the game. A Heather Pilcher shot made it 19-12 before Tech used a 19-9 run to close the half and enter the locker room leading 38-21.

"I told our players in the huddle (late in the half) that we needed to finish the half strong," Weatherspoon said. "We needed to extend the lead and not allow Boise State to get any momentum. I thought we responded."

Tech quickly pushed the lead to 43-23 in the second half before the Broncos closed the gap to 50-39 on a layup by Kenzi Poteet with almost 13 minutes to play. However, Boise State would get no closer the rest of the game as Johnson scored 14 of her game-high 23 points in the second half.

Dowdell passed former Techster great Cheryl Ford on the all-time scoring list with a jumper at the 17:23 mark of the second half as the Calera, Alabama native now ranks 22nd with 1,382 points. Ironically, Johnson passed her coach - Teresa Weatherspoon - and moved into 34th place on the all-time scoring list in the game as well.

Poteet led the Broncos with 11 points while Janie Bos added 10 points.

Tech shot 41 percent (28-69) from the field for the game while Boise State hit only 34 percent (23-68) of its field goals. The Broncos also hit only 4-of-16 free throws and 3-of-22 three-pointers.

The Lady Techsters outrebounded Boise State 55-43.

Tech returns to action Saturday when it travels to face Utah State at 4 p.m. CST in Logan.