MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Louisiana Tech women's basketball team played championship-level basketball in hostile territory for the majority of the Saturday afternoon's contest at Middle Tennessee. However, the Blue Raiders bookend the first and last five minutes of the game to pull away and extend the fourth-longest winning streak in the country to 14 games, winning 68-50.
Middle Tennessee (16-2, 9-0 C-USA) got off on a 10-0 start while holding LA Tech (11-8, 4-5 C-USA) to 0-11 from the field, but Tech settled in and rallied off a 9-2 run to cut the deficit in half by the end of the first quarter, 16-11.
In the second, with three starters sitting due to foul trouble,
Salma Bates,
Robyn Lee, and
Lotte Sant combined for all 13 second-quarter points, hitting three three-pointers, and kept Tech within striking distance at the break (30-24).
Bates finished the night with eight points, four rebounds, and four assists with zero turnovers. Lee and Sant both chipped in six off the bench.
Tech came out of the halftime locker room and put together what was perhaps their best quarter of the season, holding the Blue Raiders scoreless on 0-7 shooing over the first 5:37 of the period en route to an 8-0 run courtesy of
Keiunna Walker and
Amaya Brannon to grab their first lead of the game (32-30). Walker reached double figures for the 13
th straight game (14), while Brannon added 10 points.
Tech would cling to a one-point lead by the end of the third (38-37), but Middle Tennessee answered with a quick 7-0 run to start the fourth (44-38).
Both teams would trade blows over the next two minutes setting up a two-possession ball game with five minutes to play. Still, Middle Tennessee would finish the contest on a 16-2 run over the final 4:26, including 14 straight points from Marshall transfer Savannah Wheeler who played the role of closer for the Blue Raiders.
Tech finished the night hitting 19-54 from the field (.352), including 6-17 from three but were only granted a season-low six free throws (6-6) on eight Blue Raider fouls. Middle Tennessee hit 24 of their 52 attempts (.462) and 7-21 from three while going 13-14 from the line (.933).
Both teams did a great job taking care of the ball with nine turnovers each, but MTSU registered seven blocks on the night to Tech's three. Middle also held a slight advantage on the boards (33-30), but Tech did pull down ten offensive rebounds leading to 14 second-chance points.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr…
"I'm proud of the way we competed. We weren't happy with the way we competed Thursday, and I thought we showed some toughness today. The last five minutes was disappointing after defending so well for the first three quarters. They put a lot of pressure on you with the way they shoot the three. I thought their big was as good as she's been all year. We answered every run they had up to that point. They're a good team. We will continue to get healthy and build on what we did today.
There's no fault in our effort tonight. We competed the way we're capable of and the way we expect to. We took care of the ball in a hostile environment and handled ourselves well today. We can build on this and will use this experience to help us in February and March.
It's been a long three games away from home and we look forward to playing again in the TAC next week."
NOTABLES
• Middle Tennessee moves the all-time series to 9-7 and improves to 4-2 in games played in Murfreesboro.
• LA Tech's bench reached double figures for the 17
th time this season, scoring 16 in the game.
• Tech hit six threes for the seventh time this season, all in the last nine games.
• Tech made (6) and attempted (6) season-lows from the free throw line.
•
Keiunna Walker reached double figures for the 13
th game in a row with a team-high 14. Walker passed Pam Gant for No. 14 in all-time scoring. Walker also drew two charges giving her 36 on the year.
• Walker failed to attempt a free throw for just the second time this season, the fifth in the last three seasons. Walker ranks No. 9 in free throw makes and No. 11 in attempts nationally.
•
Amaya Brannon reached double figures for the eighth time this season and drew her ninth charge of the year.
•
Lotte Sant hit multiple threes for the 10
th time this season. She is shooting 61 percent from three in conference play (22-36).
•
Salma Bates registered four assists. It is the 13
th time this season she has had three or more in a game.
•
Anna Larr Roberson grabbed six rebounds in her first start since Dec. 18, eclipsing 700 for her career.
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech will return home for a pair of Conference USA matchups next week, beginning with UAB on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. on Karl Malone Court inside the Thomas Assembly Center. The game can be seen on CUSA.tv. Live stats and radio can be found on the LA Tech Athletics app.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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