Jan. 20, 2011

Final Stats

RUSTON - Adrienne Johnson scored a career-high 36 points and Shantale Bramble-Donaldson added a career-high 17 points to lead Louisiana Tech to a 91-74 win over Utah State in Western Athletic Conference action Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

With the victory, LA Tech (12-5, 4-0 WAC) remains in sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings as the Lady Techsters upped their winning streak to five.

Despite building an early 18-point lead midway through the first half, the Lady Techsters had to hit 10-of-10 free throws in the final 57 seconds of the game to finally seal the victory.

"I just don't get it," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "I don't know what it's going to take for us to understand we have to play 40 minutes of basketball. We are a really good team for 10 minutes here or 5 minutes there but we have to learn to put people away. Tonight we didn't do that.

"I have to give Utah State a lot of credit. They kept coming after us and coming after us. They never quit. However, we went away from what got us the early lead and there was really no excuse or reason for it."

Tech used some defensive pressure early in the game to force Utah State (8-9, 2-2 WAC) into 13 turnovers in the first 11 minutes of the contest as the Lady Techsters built an impressive lead. When Martina Holloway scored on a layup off a steal with 9:24 to play in the opening half, LA Tech led 26-8.

However, that's when the Aggies made their run as Tech committed seven turnovers the rest of the half as Ashlee Brown's layup with only seconds remaining in the first half cut the Lady Techster advantage to 43-32 at the break.

"We have to learn to protect the basketball," Weatherspoon said. "We would beat them off the dribble and then forget the defender was behind us and they would come and knock the ball way. You always have to be aware of your surroundings."

Early in the second half it appeared as if the Aggies were going to really make a game of it as Utah State scored the first six points of the period to trim the margin to 43-38 on a pair of free throws by Brown, who finished with a game-high 24 points and 13 rebounds the visitors.

However, a Brietta Thomas three-pointer with 18:19 to play ignited a 29-14 run over the next 11 minutes as LA Tech once again built what appeared to be a comfortable lead at 72-52 with 6:47 to play.

The Aggies mounted one final run as Tech missed six of 11 free throws and committed five turnovers over the next five minutes as Utah State closed the gap to 81-74 on a pair of Devyn Christensen free throws with 1:11 to play.

However, Johnson and Bendolph combined to go 10-of-10 at the charity stripe the rest of the way as Tech improved to 11-1 all-time against Utah State.

Johnson hit 10-of-21 field goals and set a school record by connecting on 16-of-16 free throws to surpass her previous career-high of 34 points set against Southern Miss on Jan. 2.

For the game, Tech hit 45 percent (28-62) of its free throws, 27 percent (4-15) of its three-pointers and 71 percent (31-44) of its free throws. Utah State hit 36 percent (25-70) of its shots, 19 percent (3-16) of its three-pointers and 84 percent (21-25) of its free throws.

The Lady Techsters return to action Saturday when they host Nevada at 7 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.