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RUSTON - According to Louisiana Tech head coach Tyler Summitt, the Lady Techsters only played 10 good minutes of basketball Thursday night.

Fortunately for Summitt and Co. those 10 minutes were so good that Louisiana Tech dealt a short-handed Charlotte 49ers team a 71-61 loss before 1,719 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.

The victory combined with UAB's loss at WKU moves Tech (14-11, 9-5 CUSA) into fourth place in the C-USA standings heading into Sunday's home finale against Old Dominion.

"There were ten minutes of good and the rest was ugly," Summitt said. "That is how I would put it. There is no in between. The rest was absolutely horrendous. We had 15 turnovers in the first half, which is ridiculous. They were getting good shots and just missing. Their shooters were open, they just missed shots tonight. We lucked out a little bit there. We let their right handed people go right and their left handed people go left. The story was offense. We looked horrible on offense."

The story was the first 12 minutes after halftime. Charlotte led 28-26 at the halftime break in an opening 20 minutes that saw the two teams combine for 30 turnovers - 15 by each.

"I thought we were forcing things in the first half," Summitt said. "We were forcing it inside to Kevione (Moten). Somebody would be open and we would force another pass to try and get a better shot, when we already had a good shot. When you already have a good shot, you take it. It is just a balance. We preach being unselfish all year, but I think we were a little too unselfish in that first half and frankly, just a little unintelligent."

However, a different looking LA Tech team took the court in the second half. Trailing 33-31 with exactly 18 minutes to play, LA Tech ignited offensively, hitting 16 of its first 21 field goals in the second half. The Lady Techster beat the 49ers up and down the court time and time again and when Kelia Shelton nailed a jumper with 8:21 to play, LA Tech led 62-41. It was a 31-8 Tech run.

Tech outscored Charlotte 22-6 on fast break points. Tech point guard Chrisstasia Walter ended the game with a double double with 13 points and 10 assists (along with six steals) and time and time again found open teammates running the floor for transition.

"It helps when out of those 16 made field goals, 10 of them were layups," Summitt said. "It was in transition, getting out when they were trying to press us. We got it out and down the court before they could set up, which is exactly what we wanted to do. That is what we have preached and worked on all year. I was proud of our players for that transition. I was proud of our rim runners and our guards throwing it up. I think we did a good job there.

Charlotte, which was playing without its leading scorer in Lefty Webster, didn't go down quietly. The 49ers started to chip away at the lead, hit some big shots and combined with some poor game management decisions by the Tech players, Charlotte found itself with 66-59 with 1:21 to play.

"We explained to our players after the game that there is no extra time at Louisiana Tech," Summitt said. "It is a privilege to wear the jersey that you wear, to be in the arena that you are in and to be in front of the fans. We go out there and think that we can just shoot up 21 and try to look pretty. No, we are out here to be successful and to be the best that we can be. I told them that I do not care if we are up 21, get up 30 or 40. The scoreboard does not matter. We have to be better in those situations. It is something to learn from and get better at."

Senior Whitney Frazier led Tech with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Kelia Shelton added 15 points and five steals. Brandi Wingate came off the bench to score 14 points and grab six rebounds in the win. Kira Gordon led Charlotte with 16 points.

For the game, Tech shot 52 percent (31-60) from the field while holding Charlotte to 44 percent (23-52).

The Lady Techsters will host Old Dominion Sunday at 2 p.m. in the home finale.