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RUSTON -- Brandi Wingate scored a career-high 29 points and Ashley Santos added 11 to lead Louisiana Tech to a 77-71 win over North Texas before 1,769 fans Saturday evening at the Thomas Assembly Center in Conference USA action.

With the win, LA Tech (12-9, 7-3 C-USA) remained alone in fourth place in the Conference USA standings while improving to 5-0 at home in league play. Tech also improved to 8-0 all-time against North Texas.

The win didn't come easy. Tech overcame a 14-point second quarter deficit to record the 10th largest come-from-behind victory in program history.

"North Texas does a great job pressuring the ball and getting after you," said Tech head coach Tyler Summitt. "It is something we are going to see Thursday against Middle Tennessee. We have to get used to that. We have to handle that and use it to get back doors. We only got one back door and it was a lob that almost touched the ceiling by Kierra Anthony.

"I did not think we took advantage of their pressure. We did not punish them for what they did. That led to instant offense for them. I thought they were very good in 3-on-2, 2-on-1 and 4-on-3 situations. We need to take a page out of their book. Jalie Mitchell does a great job with her program."

Tech opened the game strong, holding North Texas without a point in the opening five minutes while grabbing a 7-0 advantage. However, once the Mean Green (8-12, 3-7 C-USA) got rolling, they used a 15-1 run to take a 15-11 lead at the first quarter of action.

North Texas continued their offensive execution in the second quarter, shooting 69 percent (9-13) from the field. A Tosin Mabodu layup with 3:47 to play before halftime saw the Mean Green take a 32-18 advantage, its biggest of the game.

However, Tiara Davenport hit a three-pointer to start a quarter-ending 9-2 run as Brooke Pumroy's three-pointer at the buzzer cut the NT lead to 34-27 at the half. The opening 20 minutes of play saw the two teams combine for 30 turnovers. The Lady Techsters committed 16 turnovers that led to North Texas scoring 24 of their 34 points off of turnovers. The Mean Green also shot 57 percent (15-26) from the field in the first half.

"Coach Summitt told us that we needed to pick up the intensity," Wingate said. "Everything is against you. You have to pick up the intensity. Crash the boards, because they were up on the boards. He preached on rebounding and defense. Defensively we were not focused and they were getting the shots they wanted. With every turnover we had, they were converting points."

The second half of basketball was different on both ends of the court for Tech. The Lady Techsters attacked the basket, getting to the free throw line 24 times and making 22 of them.

Defensively, Tech held NT to only 3-of-11 shooting in the third quarter, outscoring the Mean Green 20-12 as the Lady Techsters led 47-46 heading into the final stanza.

Santos scored all of 11 of her points in a four-minute stretch covering the final two minutes of the third quarter and the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Her two free throws with 7:58 to play in the game tied the score at 54-54.

"The thing about these players, we had on weight vests yesterday in practice going hard where normally it would be a walk through," Summitt said. "Brandi Wingate had sore knees. This was Brooke's first day back from a concussion. Ashley Santos hyperextended her knee and was pushing through. I really thought we had some physical toughness today to come out. Ashley really turned it on and I could see it in her eyes that her knee really hurt. You could tell something was wrong. I was proud of her. I thought we moved well without the ball in that second half."

A Candice Adams jumper at the 7:35 mark gave NT a 56-54 lead -- its last of the game -- as Kierra Anthony tied the game eight seconds later on a pull-up jumper. Wingate made a layup and scored eight straight points as the Lady Techsters slowly pulled away for the win.

Wingate's 29 points eclipsed her previous career-high of 26 scored at Arizona on Dec. 10 as she hit 11-of-16 field goals and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

"Brandi Wingate was more aggressive this game, she did not shoot the fade-away's or 18 footers and had a career high," Summitt said. "Hopefully she learns from this and now gets 12 or 14 rebounds next game."

It marked the sixth straight game that Wingate has eclipsed the 20-point plateau, the longest streak by a Lady Techster since Adrienne Johnson had six straight during the 2010-11 season.

For the game, Tech shot 47 percent (23-49) from the field, 3-of-13 from the three-point line and 28-of-33 from the free throw line. North Texas shot 46 percent (26-56) from the field, 7-of-13 from the three-point line and 12-of-20 from the free throw line.

Tech outrebounded NT 35-26.