Nov. 22, 2011

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RUSTON - Louisiana Tech held UALR scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the first half as the Lady Techster overcame an early seven-point deficit to pick up their first win of the season 64-48 Tuesday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Jasmine Bendolph hit a career-high five three-pointers and scored 19 points while Shantale Bramble-Donaldson added 10 points as the Lady Techsters (1-2) defeated the Trojans (1-3) for the seventh time in nine meetings.

"It was rough," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "We started out rough. We didn't shoot it well and we were allowing them to get some wide open looks. We finally settled down and played better. This was a big win for us confidence-wise as we head into three tough games this week."

Marian Kursh scored 10 points to lead the Trojans to a 19-12 lead on a three-pointer by Janette Meriex with 11:29 to play in the opening half. However, the Lady Techsters clamped down defensively, holding UALR to only two points the rest of the half as the Trojans hit only 1-of-12 field goals and committed 11 turnovers during that stretch.

Bendolph provided the majority of the offense for Tech in the first half, connecting on four three-pointers. Her three-pointer with 1:55 to play in the first stanza gave the Lady Techsters their first lead of the game at 21-19. Tech led 26-21 at the half.

Tech shot only 29 percent (10-35) in the opening half while UALR hit 31 percent (7-22).

Angie Felton gave Tech a nine-point lead at 34-25 with a jumper at the 15:12 mark of the second half before UALR used a 13-7 run over the next eight minutes to cut the advantage to 41-38 with 7:53 to play.

However, the Lady Techsters offensive execution improved late as Tech hit 7-out-of-8 field goals during the next four minutes to push the advantage to 59-45 with 1:47 to play.

Kiara Young added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds for Tech which outrebounded UALR 46-41 for the game, including 20 offensive boards.

"We knew we needed to be active on the boards tonight and get some second chance points," Weatherspoon said. "I thought we did a good job of that. It's a must that all five on the floor rebound for us at all times."

For the game, Tech shot 38 percent (25-66) from the field, 7-of-19 from the three point line but only 7-of-18 from the free throw line. UALR hit 32 percent (15-47) from the field, 4-of-12 from beyond the arc and 14-of-21 from the free throw line.

Kursh led UALR with 25 points while Merriex added 15 points.

The Lady Techsters will travel to the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam, beginning on Thursday at 2:15 p.m. CT.