Feb. 5, 2011

Box Score | Photo Gallery

RUSTON - Most of the time movie sequels don't match up to their predecessor.

However, Saturday night in Ruston, Louisiana Tech vs. Fresno State "Episode II" lived up to its billing as the Lady Techsters defeated the Bulldogs 90-84 in overtime before 7,123 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.

The game had been billed as the rematch between the Western Athletic Conference's top two teams who played a triple overtime thriller in Fresno on Jan. 13 that LA Tech won 94-92.

Although it only took one overtime on this night, it still had plenty of emotion and drama as the LA Tech took a two-game lead in the WAC standings with the victory - its ninth straight.

"We knew that Fresno State was going to come in here hungry," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "We knew they would be plenty motivated. We didn't come out with the energy that we needed early on but we fed off this great crowd as the game progressed and we made plays when we needed to make them.

"I want to thank everyone who came out tonight for this game. Our fans were incredible. The atmosphere was electric. Our kids really fed off of our fans and they were truly our sixth man. I hope they liked what they saw and will come back Monday night and the rest of the year."

The 7,123 fans - the 16th largest crowd in Techster history and the largest since 7,321 fans watched Tech defeat UConn on Jan. 7, 2001 - were treated to another classic between these two programs.

For the third time in the last four meetings between Louisiana Tech and Fresno State, the game went to overtime and for the second straight time the Lady Techsters came out on top.

It took a free throw by All-American candidate Adrienne Johnson with 3.5 seconds remaining in regulation to send it to overtime. Johnson then scored six of her game-high 26 points in overtime to help LA Tech outscore the Bulldogs 14-8 in the extra period.

However, the win wasn't sealed until Brietta Thomas hit a free throw with nine seconds remaining to push the advantage out to three scores.

The victory extended Tech's winning streak to nine games - the longest since the 2005-06 team won 15 straight - and improved the Lady Techsters record to 8-0 in league play, now two full games in front of Fresno State with eight conference games remaining.

Despite battling travel issues to get to Ruston - Fresno State didn't arrive to Monroe until 4 p.m. - the Bulldogs came out of the gates strong, building a 19-5 lead on a three-pointer by Rosie Moult with 13:50 to play in the opening half.

However, the Lady Techsters started mounting their comeback and when Whitney Jones hit all three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 3:40 to play in the half, Tech led 33-30.

Tarkeisha Wysinger-Mackey scored 14 first half points as the Lady Techsters took a 41-38 halftime lead into the locker room.

Tech came out in the second half and pushed the lead out to as many as seven while maintaining a slim advantage until Moult hit a pair of free throws with 59 seconds to play in regulation - giving Fresno State its first lead since late in the first period.

Thomas hit a driving layup for LA Tech on its next possession to pull Tech back ahead at 75-74 before Hayley Munro hit two free throws with 20 seconds left to once again give the Bulldogs a 76-75 advantage.

Trailing by one, Tech ran a play and found Johnson down low. However, Johnson was fouled by Munro sending her to the free throw line with only 3.5 seconds to play. After missing the first one, the senior calmly sank the second one to send the game into overtime.

"I was so mad at myself for missing the first free throw," Johnson said. "I knew I had to make the second one. I knew we just needed to get into overtime."

Johnson finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds while Wysinger-Mackey scored a season-high 21 points before fouling out in regulation. Jasmine Bendolph added a season-high 21 points while Whitney Jones scored 13.

Jaleesa Ross scored 30 points for Fresno State while Marnique Arnold and Moult each added 16 points.

Tech shot 45 percent (29-65) for the game while hitting 29-of-42 free throws while Fresno State shot only 35 percent (28-81) from field, including only 7-of-26 from three point line. The Bulldogs hit 21-of-2 9 free throws.

The Lady Techsters return to action Monday night when they host New Mexico State at 7 p.m.