RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech struggled on both sides of the floor over the final 20 minutes of play as UAB pulled away for a 71-51 victory over the Lady Techsters Saturday afternoon at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Tech (10-8, 2-5 C-USA) trailed just 32-31 at the half before seeing UAB (13-7, 5-3 C-USA) outscore the Lady Techsters 39-20 over the final two quarters of action.

"I thought they showed they are a veteran team in the second half," said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. "They start five seniors and they played like a composed, veteran team. I thought we battled in the first half and did a descent job on both ends of the floor. We were right there at the half, but we missed some shots and broke down defensively in the third quarter and they made us pay.

"I give a lot of credit to UAB. They are very good at what they do. I thought we defended the three-point line really well, but they went to their pin down game in the second half and we didn't defend nearly as well. We missed some shots and I thought we let it affect us on the other end of the floor."

After the two teams were tied 15-15 at the end of the first quarter, UAB closed the second quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 32-31 halftime lead. Bri Harris gave Tech an early lead with a bucket to start the third quarter but Tech shot only 7-of-28 from the field (25 percent) over the final two quarters while UAB hit 12-of-22 from the field and 22-of-25 from the free throw line.

Lotte Sant led Tech with 11 points while Harris and Amber Dixon each added nine points.

Tech returns to action Thursday when it travels to Charlotte to face the 49ers.