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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - With the Conference USA's leading scorer saddled with foul trouble for much of the game, Middle Tennessee turned to some role players and they came through as the Blue Raiders defeated Louisiana Tech 77-58 in the quarterfinals of the league tournament at Bartow Arena Thursday.

Olivia Jones, who entered the game averaging 20.2 points per game for the Blue Raiders, picked up three fouls in the first six minutes of the game and sat the rest of the half.

However, Ty Petty, Brea Edwards and Tianna Porter stepped up combining to score 62 points in the win. Middle Tennessee advances to Friday's semifinals to face Southern Miss. Louisiana Tech fell to 16-15 on the season.

"Want to give credit to Coach Insell and Middle Tennessee," said Tech head coach Tyler Summitt. "They are a tough team. They are an NCAA-caliber team. It was a hard-fought game. They are very physical and I thought they out-toughed us at times but proud of our players for fighting to the end. Again, you have to give credit to MTSU."

Jones picked up her third foul of the game with 13:04 to play in the opening half and Middle Tennessee leading 13-8, forcing Rick Insell to sit his first team all-conference selection the rest of the half.

"In the first half, we wanted to go at Jones and get her into foul trouble, which we did," Summitt said. "She is a game-changer, so in the second half with her in, we had to key in on her so that takes the focus off other players. We were able to hang in there in the first half, but the second half, they just turned it up a notch. That is what happens in conference and any tournament. In the second half, you turn it up a notch. The last four minutes you turn it up even more. They turned it up and we had a hard time responding."

Middle Tennessee withstood the final 13 minutes of the half with Jones on the bench and behind a combined 23 points from Petty and Edwards held a 36-31 halftime lead.

It was Louisiana Tech's opportunity to gain some momentum, but the Lady Techsters were unable to do so despite shooting 50 percent (13-26) from the field. Tech committed seven turnovers in the first half and failed to record a single offensive rebound.

"Yes, we definitely should have been able to take advantage more of Jones being in foul trouble and building a cushion with her out," Summitt said. "We struggled a little bit with turnovers and decision making, and they executed their offense well. We changed from man to zone, man to zone, but they really executed their offense no matter what we were in."

With Jones back in the game in the second half, Middle Tennessee began to pull away. Tech trailed 41-36 on a free throw by Tiara Davenport at the 14:05 mark of the final stanza before the Blue Raiders put it into another gear.

Over the next five minutes, Middle Tennessee hit seven layups - three in transition off of Tech turnovers and two more on offensive rebounds and putbacks. The MT lead was at 55-40 with just nine minutes to play.

"We were relentless for 30 minutes, then that 10-minute mark, yesterday's game kind of took its toll (on Louisiana Tech)," said Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Insell. "They were walking the ball, got tired and defensively we attacked the basket and got some fouls and knocked down some free throws and that was the ball game."

Tech senior Whitney Frazier, who finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, agreed.

"The fatigue caught up with us because we stopped pushing it, stopped playing our game," said Frazier, who ends her LA Tech career as one of only three players to ever score 1,500 points, grab 800 rebounds, record 200 assists and register 175 steals.

Trailing by 15, LA Tech was forced to extend its defense full court and foul and the Blue Raiders knocked down 13-of-20 free throws in the second half to pull away with the win.

"They are all seniors and Tyler [Summitt] has done a good job," Insell said. "It's tough to coach seniors. I'm going to tell you right now. He's done a good job with that bunch and I've watched film on them all year and they've come back and won big games."

For the game, Middle Tennessee outscored Tech 21-10 on points off of turnovers and 44-32 on points in the paint.