RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech women's basketball team fell at home to the Charlotte 49ers 66-57 Saturday afternoon to close out the 2022 portion of the season.
Amaya Brannon picked up her first-career double-double with 15 points and a career-high ten rebounds in the loss.
Coming off quick travel turnarounds from Thursday night road games, both teams got off to slow starts combining just 3-17 from the field. LA Tech (8-5, 1-2 C-USA) found some rhythm midway through the quarter, hitting three threes, including one from
Silvia Nativi on the final Techster possession to break a 10-10 tie after one (13-10). Nativi finished with seven points, five rebounds, and four assists.
In the second, it was Charlotte's (6-6, 2-1 C-USA) turn after Tech built a five-point lead (18-13), hitting four threes en route to a 12-2 run to give the 49ers their largest lead of the half at 28-23 with 3:14 to play in the half.
Brannon ended the run with back-to-back buckets and shaved a point off the lead heading into the halftime locker room, 29-25. Brannon led Tech in the first half with nine points and six rebounds.
Tech began the third quarter on an 8-2 run to regain the lead (33-31) with 4:48 to go in the stanza, but a 13-3 response by Charlotte gave the 49ers a six-point edge after three, 46-40.
After a Charlotte layup to start the final quarter, Tech responded with a quick 9-0 spurt thanks to
Mackenzie Wurm, who produced two buckets, a block and a rebound, followed by a
Gabbie Green three to regain the lead, 49-48, with 6:51 remaining.
Charlotte followed with a 7-1 stretch that was ended by a
Salma Bates three to cut the lead to one possession with 2:30 left (55-53), but back-to-back buckets from Charlotte's Mya McGraw and a 7-7 finish from the free throw line allowed the 49ers to pull away in the final minutes.
Tech shot a season-low 34 percent (22-64), coupled with a season-low seven three throws on only 12 attempts, while Charlotte hit 40 percent (23-57) from the floor. Both teams hit six threes, but the 49ers were plus-seven from the line shooting 82 percent (14-17).
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr…
"We knew it would be a tough and physical game with Charlotte. It always is. They're well-coached. I thought we defended well and battled on the boards until late in the fourth quarter. We have to be able to finish those possessions by securing a rebound. They had some big offensive rebounds that ended up being the dagger.
As well as we've shot it the first two conference games we just didn't today. That happens some days, and we have to find some other ways to overcome that. I thought our zone offense was a little stagnant, and even though we got some good looks, we just didn't hit them. We'll continue to work to get them easy shots and find others way to score with some different lineups.
We have a lot of basketball in front of us. We're three games into conference play and so much will develop over the next two months. We have to continue to fight, stick together and find a way to bounce back against a very good Rice team on Thursday. We are a little short-handed right now and these tough experiences and moments will pay off for this group as the season progresses. I know this team will continue to battle and find a way.
I appreciated our crowd today for showing up for this group on a holiday. They got into it for us, and we will need more of that as we start the New Year."
NOTABLES
• Charlotte now leads the all-time series 8-5 and holds a 4-3 edge in Ruston. Charlotte has not won five straight in the series.
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Amaya Brannon recorded her first-career double-double with 15 points and a career-high ten rebounds. Brannon has reached double figures five times this season, including the last two games.
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Mackenzie Wurm made her second-career start and recorded six rebounds and three blocks for the second consecutive outing to go along with a season-high eight points.
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Keiunna Walker reached double figures for the 11th time this season, seventh straight, and grabbed four rebounds giving her over 400 in her career.
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Lotte Sant played in her 100th career game and hit her 105th three. She is eight makes away from cracking LA Tech's all-time top-10 in made threes.
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Salma Bates reached double figures for the fourth time this season, the second in as many games, and had four assists. She has three or more assists in nine games this season.
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Silvia Nativi added four more assists, which gives her three or more in ten games.
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech will pick up the new year at home for a Conference USA matchup against Rice inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 6 p.m. The game can be seen on CUSA.tv and Stadium. Live stats and live radio can be heard on the LA Tech Sports App.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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