Dec. 2, 2011

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RUSTON - Whitney Jones scored a season-high 20 points and Shantale Bramble-Donaldson added a double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds but it wasn't enough as Louisiana Tech fell to Tulane 61-52 Friday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Tech (2-5), which entered the game ranked in the Top 20 in the country in field goal percentage, shot a season-low 29 percent (18-61) from the field as Tulane led from the opening tip and never looked back.

The Green Wave (6-1) used an early 10-0 run to take a 12-2 lead with 13:08 to play in the opening half on a Tyria Snow jumper. Tech responded with a 13-4 run over the next nine plus minutes as a Jasmine Bendolph driving layup cut the Tulane advantage to 16-15. Tulane led 24-21 at halftime.

Tulane came out in the second half strong, scoring the first nine points as Janique Kautsky's free throws at the 15:52 mark gave the Green Wave its biggest lead to that point at 33-21. Tech eventually found itself trailing 43-28 on an Olivia Grayson layup with just over 10 minutes to play.

However, behind the strong play of Jones who scored 14 of Tech's first 18 points of the second half, the Lady Techsters made a run. Jones scored nine points during an 11-1 run as her three-pointer with 6:06 to play cut the deficit to 44-39 and forced the Green Wave to call a timeout.

Grayson answered with a huge three-pointer and Brett Benzio added a layup on its next possession as Tulane pushed the lead back out to double figures. Tech would get no closer than seven the rest of the game.

Jones and Bramble-Donaldson combined to hit 12-of-29 field goals but the rest of the Louisiana Tech team was only 6-of-32 from the field while committing 19 turnovers in the game.

Grayson led Tulane with 19 points and nine boards while Benzio added 16 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Louisiana Tech returns to action Monday as they travel to Western Kentucky for a 7 p.m. CT tip-off.