DES MOINES, Iowa – Louisiana Tech dropped a hard-fought battle against Maine 60-54 Saturday afternoon at the Knapp Center.

With the loss, Louisiana Tech dropped to 2-3 on the season, while Maine improved to 4-2.

Silvia Nativi picked up where she left off from the game before. The junior guard started the scoring with a floater in the lane and knocked down two 3-pointers to lead all scorers with eight points in the opening stanza.

The Black Bears used a couple of five-point runs to gain a 19-15 advantage after one.

The Lady Techsters opened the second, looking like they would start to pull away. Evie Goetz was fouled on a three-point attempt from the corner and knocked down all three free throw attempts. Nativi intercepted a pass on the next possession and pushed the ball upcourt. The Lady Techsters swung it around the top and found Goetz in the corner for a three.

The Lady Techsters would extend their run to 9-0 off a Mackenzie Wurm layup. From there, LA Tech could only manage two points over the final six minutes of the half.

Maine would start to knock down shots from deep and finish the half on an 11-2 run to take a 30-26 lead into the locker room.

Every time the Lady Techsters started to make a move in the second half, Maine would respond by knocking down a three.

Anna Larr Roberson opened the second half with back-to-back buckets for the Lady Techsters, and Nativi knocked down her third triple of the day to get LA Tech a 33-32 lead. The Black Bears' Olivia Rockwood responded with her third triple, and Sarah Talon made it two in a row to regain the lead, 38-33.

Down 43-39 late in the third, Salma Bates took the game into her own hands. Bates would score eight of the game's following 13 points. The final two in that stretch came off an and-one and gave LA Tech a 49-48 lead.

Maine quickly responded with their own and one and grabbed a 55-52 lead with just over a minute remaining. Roberson would connect on a turnaround to cut the lead to one, but Rockwood would hit her sixth 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.

NOTABLES

• Nativi finished with a team-high 13 points on 5-9 shooting. She tied a career-high with three 3-pointers for the second game in a row.
• Nativi finished with five assists, the third game this season she had 3+ in a game.
• With 13 assists, the Lady Techsters have double-digit assists in every game this season.
• Anna Larr Roberson is three points away from tying Erica Westbrook and Debra Rodman for No. 30 all-time in program history.

UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters will take on Richmond at 11:30 a.m. CT on the final day of the Vibrant Thanksgiving Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.

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