HATTIESBURG, Miss. – About midway through the first quarter of Saturday afternoon's Conference USA match-up between Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss, the entire internet grid in Reed Green Coliseum went down.

Poof. No more Wifi. No more Ethernet.

Down went both teams radio broadcasts. Down went the ESPN+ feed. Down went live stats.

Although the internet eventually resumed midway through the second quarter, the Lady Techsters offensive struggles continued until the final buzzer in a 57-44 loss to Southern Miss.

"It's frustrating," said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr, who saw her team shoot 15-of-54 from the floor for 28 percent. "We had some good looks during that time. We took some tough shots during that time. That's where we have to find a way to get that offensive board. You have to find a way to get to the free throw line. You have to find a way to create an opening for a teammate to be able to know it down. We just weren't able to do that today."

Tech led 24-21 with 4:43 to play in the second quarter after a conventional three-point play by Anna Larr Roberson, but the Lady Techsters then went scoreless for almost nine minutes. And by the time Keiunna Walker hit a three-pointer with exactly 6 minutes to play in the third quarter, Tech trailed by 10.

In addition to the struggles from the field, Tech committed 19 turnovers which led to a number of easy transition buckets.

"We were loose with the basketball," said Stoehr. "We were in the right spots (against their full court press) because we didn't change anything from Thursday. It served its purpose. It forced us to take time and so even when we broke it, we were setting up offensively with 15 seconds on the shot clock. That forces you to speed up a little bit. I just didn't think our tempo was very good. We were walking the ball up the floor instead of being aggressive and attacking like we did on Thursday night and at times during the game."

Despite its offensive struggles, the Lady Techsters used back-to-back three-pointers by Raizel Guinto and Walker and closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run to close the deficit to 40-39. Tech had possession of the basketball to start the fourth with a chance to take its first lead since it was 24-23 with 4 minutes to play in the second quarter.

However, Tech hit just 1-of-13 field goals in the fourth quarter and saw Southern Miss – who entered the final quarter just 1-of-11 from the three-point line – nail three three-pointers during a five possession span early in the stanza and pull away for the victory.

"Even with that, (Southern Miss) went 4-for-17 (from the three-point line)," said Stoehr. "I'll take that. It was just the timing of them of when it happened. We weren't very good offensively today. We had some starters struggle offensively and we're not going to score many points when that happens.

"I didn't think we were bad defensively. We only gave up 57. But the turnovers that led to some transition for them in the first half and then that first part of the third quarter really hurt us. That gave them some momentum. I was proud of our kids for fighting back and cutting it to one."

Less than 48 hours after controlling the paint in the 17-point win over USM in Ruston, the tables turned in Hattiesburg. Kelsey Jones, who was held scoreless in Ruston, rebounded by scoring 22 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking five shots. USM outscored Tech 36-10 on points in the paint.

"She was big to start from the beginning," said Stoehr. "She played really well for them. And credit her coming back from not having a good game on Thursday night and really answering today. She was the difference for them."

Walker led Tech with 19 points and six rebounds while Guinto added 13 points. Amber Dixon pulled down 11 rebounds.

Tech held its ninth opponent in 10 C-USA games to 61 points or fewer as the Lady Techsters continue to rank among the league's top defensive teams.

Tech returns to action Friday when it hosts North Texas at 6:30 p.m.
 
 
 
 
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