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RUSTON ââ'¬" With Louisiana Tech clinging to a three-point lead in the final 90 seconds of its C-USA opener against North Texas, junior guard Taylor Stahly came through in the clutch.

Stahly's three-pointer with 1:18 to play ââ'¬" her fourth of the game ââ'¬" snapped a six minute scoring drought and propelled the Lady Techsters (10-4, 1-0) to a 61-53 victory over North Texas (9-4, 0-1) before 1,749 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center Wednesday night.

The game pitted two of the top defensive teams in C-USA and it played out to script.

Tech, winners of six straight, locked down defensively in the opening two quarters. The Lady Techsters held North Texas to just 28 percent (7-of-28) from the field in the first half and took a 33-21 lead into the halftime locker room.

"I thought defensively, we communicated and really played connected as a group in the first half," said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. "North Texas missed some shots that didn't go down in the first half that went down in the second half, but I thought we were really, really good."

North Texas opened the game with a three-pointer by junior guard Terriell Bradley to take the early lead, but Alexus Malone and Kierra Anthony went to work for the Lady Techsters. The duo scored the next eight points ââ'¬" and the first 20 of the game for Tech ââ'¬" as the Lady Techsters grabbed an 8-3 lead. Tech led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Tech continued the defensive intensity in the second quarter, holding North Texas to just 3-of-11 from the field, pushing its halftime advantage to 33-21.

The second half was a different story. Bradley scored 15 of her game-high 23 points in the third quarter for North Texas, which rallied from a big deficit. Anthony's layup gave Tech a 44-28 lead with 4:36 to play in the third quarter, but Bradley single handedly kept the Mean Green in the game.

"The second half I thought our energy dipped defensively," said Stoehr. "They hit their first two shots of the second half, and I just didn't think we got off to a good start defensively from a communication standpoint. Sometimes when you give up a couple of baskets, that makes your energy level drop and it shouldn't. It should be the opposite of that.

"We made a run and pushed it out to 16 but then we made a couple of turnovers that were key and then we missed some easy shots. I thought they did a nice job of waling up on Alexus inside."

North Texas freshman Lauren Holmes entered the game averaging 12 points a game. Holmes three-pointer with 8:54 to play in the fourth quarter brought the Mean Green to within 49-45, although it was the only field goal of the night for Holmes who finished just 1-of-14 from the field.

Anthony hit a layup at the 8:30 mark and then Stahly hit her third three-pointer of the game with 7:10 to play as Tech regained a nine-point advantage out 54-45. However, it would be Tech's last points for the next six minutes.

"It felt like 26," said Stoehr.

Micayla Buckner, who finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for North Texas, pulled the Mean Green to within 54-51 with 4:39 to play in the game. Grace Goodhart, Holmes and Bradley all missed three-pointer over the next two minutes that would have tied the game for North Texas.

With the game still in doubt and the shot clock running down with less than 90 seconds to play, Stahly finally broke the drought with the biggest bucket of the night.

"I thought it was a good possession," said Stoehr. "We got a post touch. It went inside, came back out and went back inside. We found her on the backside. They do a great job of helping defensively. We felt we needed to take advantage of their help by screening the backside. Taylor found that gap, and we were able to deliver a scoring pass and she hit a big shot."

Stahly finished with 14 points while Anthony added 18 points and six rebounds and Malone recorded a double double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

With the win, Tech improved to 12-0 all-time against North Texas and won its sixth straight game. The Lady Techsters return to the court Friday at 6:30 p.m. when they host UTSA.