Nov. 11, 2011

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RUSTON - Christiana Shorter scored 20 points to lead four Missouri State players in double figures as the Lady Bears defeated Louisiana Tech 78-65 Friday night before 1,788 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Missouri State (1-0) shot 51 percent (28-55) from the field for the game, including a blistering 62 percent (16-26) in the final 20 minutes of play. It marks only the fifth time in the last 76 games that a Teresa Weatherspoon-coached Lady Techster team has allowed an opponent to hit more than half of their field goal attempts.

"You have to give Missouri State a lot of credit to come in here and play with such energy on our floor," Weatherspoon said. "However, when you talk about our players, we didn't bring the energy we needed in order to play against a team like this. When you get a chance to open the season in front of your home crowd, then that should have been enough to energize you.

"When we learn to bring the energy and effort, we will be a very, very good basketball team because I have some very talented young ladies. We just didn't accept the challenge tonight. That's what was so disappointing. They gave us a good ole fashion whipping. We will learn from it."

After Tech had overcome an 11-point deficit early in the second half to tie the game at 55-55 with 9:22 to play on a layup by senior Kiara Young, Missouri State responded holding the Lady Techsters scoreless over the next four-plus minutes.

During that stretch, Missouri State forced four turnovers and held Tech to 0-of-5 shooting while beating the Lady Techsters in transition. Casey Garrison's free throw with 5:50 to play in the game upped the Lady Bears lead to 68-55 as Tech would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

The two teams went back and forth in the opening half of play as the game saw eight ties and seven lead changes. Tech's biggest lead came at 15-10 on a Young layup with 10:12 to play in the half but Missouri State answered with a 6-0 run to claim a 16-15 advantage.

Tech guard Jasmine Bendolph gave Tech its last lead of the first half on a jumper with 2:22 to play before the Lady Bears used a 10-0 run to go up 36-27. Tavasha Anderson's conventional three-point play with 18 seconds to play in the half closed the deficit to 36-30 at the intermission.

Missouri State opened the second half scoring the first five points to lead 41-30 before Shantale Bramble-Donaldson led LA Tech back, scoring 11 points during a 18-7 run that saw the Lady Techsters tie the game at 48-48. Bramble-Donaldson led Tech with 18 points and nine rebounds in the game.

For the game Tech shot 44 percent (27-61) from the field but hit only 3-of-13 three-pointers and only 8-of-14 free throws.

In addition to Shorter's big night, Jaleshia Roberson added 18 points, Garrison 13 points and Whitney Eddie 11 points.

Tech returns to action Nov. 19 when it travels to Oral Roberts for a 2 p.m. tipoff.