Jan. 22, 2011

Box Score | Photo Gallery

RUSTON - With members of Louisiana Tech's three national championship teams in attendance, Louisiana Tech gave a champion effort Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center defeating Nevada 67-43 before 2,249 fans.

In honor of the 30th reunion of the first of Louisiana Tech's three national championship titles, players, coaches and support staff from the three teams converged on Ruston for the weekend to celebrate.

What they saw was the Lady Techsters most complete performance of the year as LA Tech improved to 13-5, 5-0 in Western Athletic Conference play, while Nevada fell to 13-5, 2-3 in WAC action.

"This entire weekend has been special," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon, the starting point guard on the 1988 NCAA Championship team. "To have all of these members of the Lady Techster Family back ... it's just special.

"We played our most complete game of the year, especially on the defensive end of the floor and in valuing the basketball. This is a very, very good Nevada team and we showed a lot of energy tonight. We were aggressive. We got our hands up and made it tough for them to run their offense. We took care of the basketball. I'm proud of our kids."

With four former Louisiana Tech Kodak All-Americans watching from the stands, senior Adrienne Johnson showcased her arsenal of All-American skills, scoring 26 points while getting the frontline of Shavon Moore and Kayla Williams into foul trouble early.

Moore and Williams, who entered the game averaging 26 points and 18 rebounds, were held to a total of just 15 points and 13 rebounds between them before they both fouled out in the second half.

"Adrienne is special," Weatherspoon said. "She just does everything on the floor. She can score from everywhere. She is a great defender. She is a great rebounder. We've had some great players over 37 years here, and she is one of the best."

With Johnson and junior Shantale Bramble-Donaldson (12 points) providing the offensive punch, senior guard Tarkeisha Wysinger-Mackey spearheaded the defensive effort by holding one of the top 15 scorers in the country in Wolf Pack guard Tahnee Robinson to only 14 points.

"Tarkeisha really respects (Robinson)," Weatherspoon said. "She will be the first one to tell you what a great player she is. How smart she is. However, TK loves a challenge and she really did an incredible job on her tonight. Our entire team did an incredible job playing defense for 40 minutes."

Nevada entered the game averaging 71 points a contest and leading the WAC in field goal percentage at 44 percent for the year. However, LA Tech clamped down and held the Wolf Pack to a season low 43 points and only 36 percent (17-47) shooting.

Tech also forced 28 turnovers by the Wolf Pack while committing a season-low six. Tech outscored Nevada 27-2 on points off of turnovers.

The Lady Techsters also took the court in newly-designed Under Armour uniforms with sleeves. It marked the first time since March 15, 2002 against UC-Santa Barbara in the NCAA Tournament in Austin that the Lady Techsters wore sleeved uniforms.

The Lady Techsters will return to action Thursday when they travel to Moscow to face the Idaho Vandals at 8 p.m. CT.