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RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech outscored Stephen F. Austin by 28 points in the third quarter to pull away from a one-point halftime lead and down the Ladyjacks 76-44 Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

LA Tech (2-1) held a 29-28 halftime advantage after shooting only 35 percent from the field in the opening two quarters and committing 15 turnovers. However, Tech scored the first 14 points coming out of the locker room and outscored Stephen F. Austin 32-4 in the third quarter to build a 29-point lead and coast to the win.

It's the fourth straight win by LA Tech in the series; Tech now leads the series 28-6 all-time.

"I thought we showed a lot of maturity coming out of halftime," said Tech head coach Tyler Summitt. "We didn't play well in the first half. We went into the locker room and made some adjustments. I thought Stephen F. Austin had a great game plan and we had to adjust to it. We came out in the third quarter and executed.

"It showed we are starting to grow up. Against Wisconsin (in the season opener) we were leading at halftime and came out and didn't adjust in the second half and let them pull away. This was a step forward for us. It was a nice win."

Both teams were saddled with foul trouble in the first half. Tech ended the half with four starters sitting on the bench with two fouls each, including second leading scorer Brandi Wingate who only played three minutes in the first half.

With Tech's starters in foul trouble, the Lady Techsters reserves came up big, accounting for 39 of the 76 points in the win. Junior guard Rochelle Vasquez and freshman forward Reauna Cleaver each scored 13 points while Kevione Moten added six points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

"I really thought Ro and Reauna were big for us," Summitt said. "Those two are going to need to be productive for us. I was proud of the way our bench responded tonight."

Brooke Pumroy led Tech with 18 points.

Defensively, Tech hounded Stephen F. Austin's top two scorers in Taylor Schippers and Brentney Branch, who entered the game averaging a combined 37 points. On this night, the Tech switching man-to-man defense held the duo to only 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting.

"I thought our defense was the key to this win," Summitt said. "I thought we really bought into the game plan. Amber Smith is our defensive coordinator and has really been stressing this to our players. We made it difficult on them to get open looks, and this is a good offensive Stephen F. Austin team."

For the game, Tech shot 45 percent (25-56) from the field and 23-of-30 from the free throw line while holding SFA to only 31 percent (16-52) shooting, including only 4-of-17 from behind the arc. Tech dominated on the glass, outrebounding SFA 49-23.

The Lady Techsters will return to action Friday when they face UCLA at 12 p.m. CT in the opening day of the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas.