Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana Tech went more than 16 minutes without a field goal and LSU took advantage as the Lady Tigers built a 26-point halftime lead and then held on for the 73-59 win over the Lady Techsters Wednesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Tech (2-3) found itself trailing 37-11 at the half after hitting just 2-of-28 field goals in the opening 20 minutes, the last coming on a Chrisstasia Walter layup with 15:30 to play in the first period.

"Nikki (Caldwell) had her team out here ready to play," said Tech head coach Tyler Summitt. "I respect her and what she is doing here at LSU. I have a lot of respect for their defense. There were some times when we got good shots and didn't hit them. The feedback we got from the players at halftime was they felt like they were rushing their shots. We settled down in the second half and took our shots with confidence. We outscored them 48-36 in the second half. I am proud of our young ladies for fighting."

Early on it appeared as if it would be a defensive battle as neither team got off to a strong start. After missing its first nine shots of the game, LA Tech finally found the scoreboard when Whitney Frazier scored in transition with 16:14 to play to cut the LSU lead to 4-2. The following possession, Frazier missed on a jumper but Walter corralled the offensive rebound and laid it back in to tie the game at 4-4 with 15:30 to play. It would be the last made field goal of the half for Tech.

Freshman Tiara Davenport, who finished the night with 10 points, five rebounds and four steals, hit a pair of free throws a minute later to give Tech a 6-4 lead. The two teams continued to battle back and forth on a Frazier free throw with 11:16 to play in the opening half pulled the Lady Techsters to within 10-9.

Tech would miss its next 16 field goal attempts as LSU used a 27-2 run to enter the locker room with the 26-point lead. Tech shot just seven percent (2-28) from the field in the first half and trailed at the half for the fifth straight game.

"That's been our Achilles heel all season," Summitt said. "Getting down and fighting back. I am proud of our team for fighting back and winning a couple of these games, but it has to be a 40-minute game. We have to start right off the bat. I think at the end they were looking for shots and looking to attack. We have to have that for 40 minutes."

The Lady Techsters looked like a totally different team in the final 20 minutes. Tech came out of the halftime locker room and scored the first nine points, forcing four early LSU turnovers. JaQuan Jackson, who scored all 22 of her points in the second half, hit a jumper with 17:02 to play to cut the deficit to 37-20.

Behind a combined 37 points from Jackson and Shelton over the final 20 minutes of play, Tech kept the deficit between 17 and 21 points for the majority of the second half. Shelton scored 18 points and consistently got to the free throw line where she hit 11-of-16 on the night.

Defensively, Tech played well. Although LSU shot 47 percent from the field, Summitt said he felt like the game plan was solid and the players executed defensively in the half court for most of the night.

"My hats off to Mickie DeMoss for her scouting report," Summitt said. "She did an incredible job; she has obviously scouted LSU a number of times. Nikki made some nice adjustments to attack. We were isolating the ball handler and they attacked us. I thought a lot of the points they got were off of our turnovers, not executing our plays and them converting turnovers into layups. That is why you see their shooting percentage being 47 percent."

Tech outrebounded LSU 47-41, including 25 offensive rebounds on the night.

"The number one message was rebound," Summitt said. "We did that. Outrebounding LSU is no easy task. They are a very well-trained rebounding team. But it has to be a full, total effort. We have to execute better and shoot our shots with confidence."

Raignye Moncrief led LSU with 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals and six assists in the Lady Tigers win.

"Moncrief is a nice player," Summitt said. "She is a great player. We labeled her as key player No. 1 and she was that. She played very well."

DeShawn Harden added 13 points and Jenna Deemer 11 points.

For the game, Tech shot 23 percent (15-of-64), including only 4-of-24 from the three-point line. The Lady Techsters did hit 76 percent (25-33) of its free throws.

Tech returns to action Sunday when it hosts undefeated Loyola-New Orleans at 3 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.