RUSTON, La. – Amber Dixon scored a career-high 20 points but Louisiana Tech struggled defensively and committed untimely turnovers in falling 70-59 to Old Dominion Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
               
After leading by eight points midway through the first quarter, Tech (9-9, 1-4 C-USA) went stagnant offensively. Old Dominion (12-5, 3-2) cut the deficit to 16-14 at the end of the first quarter and then used a big second quarter to take a double digit halftime lead.
               
ODU hit 8-of-9 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws in the second quarter while holding Tech to just 3-of-15 from the field and outscoring the Lady Techsters 24-12. ODU led 38-28 at the break.
               
"We did our own thing defensively," said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. "That's been the story. We have three players doing the right thing one possession and four the next, but we don't have all five. The frustrating thing is this group is capable. We can't put our heads down when we don't make shots or we have a turnover. We have to continue to fight and continue to fight and continue to fight."
               
ODU held Kierra Anthony to just 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting and forced the nation's four leading scorer into a season-high seven turnovers. Tech committed 17 as a team in the game, including some critical ones in the third and fourth quarters when the Lady Techsters were trying to rally.
               
"I thought they defended us really well tonight and tried to take some things away," said Stoehr. "We had the post open all night and we either never rolled or the four never flashed to the high post where we talked about getting them the ball. I just thought our execution in the half court was very poor offensively."
               
Tech used a full court press early in the third quarter to get back into the game, converting steals in the back court into easy transition layups. Grayson Bright's jumper in the lane midway through the third period closed the gap to 44-40. But ODU countered with a Maggie Robinson three-pointer and then Tech helped the Monarch's cause with turnovers.
               
"The turnovers were critical," said Stoehr. "I liked our energy coming out of half. We picked them up full court and forced some turnovers and got some easy layups out of that. We forced some timeouts. I thought momentum had shifted towards us, but every critical possession that we had with a chance to cut it down to one possession we turned the ball over. Those turnovers led to run outs. They hit a couple of threes during that stretch."
               
ODU entered the fourth quarter with a 52-45 lead before another Bright bucket cut it to five points. However, the Monarchs quickly pushed the lead back out to double figures in route to the win.
               
Victoria Morris led ODU with 24 points, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, while Amari Young came off the bench to added 17 points and seven rebounds.
               
Bright joined Dixon and Anthony in double figures with 13 points, with all 13 coming after halftime.
               
The Monarchs shot 49 percent (25-51) from the field while holding Tech to just 32 percent (19-59).
               
The Lady Techsters return to action Saturday at 2 p.m. vs Charlotte.