Darrell James

Box Score

Alcorn Alcorn 2-6,0-0 SWAC

Louisiana Tech LATech 3-9,0-0 CUSA

Alcorn Alcorn

2-6,0-0 SWAC

Final

Dec. 16, 2023

Louisiana Tech LATech

3-9,0-0 CUSA

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Alcorn Alcorn	11	13	15	8	47
Louisiana Tech LATech	15	6	16	12	49

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/16/2023 6:29:00 PM | Kevin Albarez

Bates' Three Sinks Lady Braves

Next Game:

California Baptist

12/18/2023 | 6:00 p.m.

KNBB 97.7 FM/LA Tech Athletics App

Next Game

Full Schedule

Dec. 18 (Mon) / 6:00 p.m.

California Baptist

Recap
Roster

RUSTON – They say when you are in a shooting slump, the best way to get out of it is to keep shooting. That is precisely what Salma Bates did in Louisiana Tech's 49-47 win over Alcorn State Saturday afternoon inside the Thomas Assembly Center.

The fifth-year senior was just 3-26 from long range in her last three games but remained confident and finished 4-9 from deep, including the game-winner with 38 seconds remaining.

LA Tech (3-9) used the inside game to help set up the deep ball. Anna Larr Roberson finished with a game-high 15 points and six rebounds, while Bates finished with 14.

Alcorn (2-6) opened the game, knocking down three of their first five shots to take a 6-3 lead four minutes into the game. The Lady Techsters' defense stepped up and forced the Lady Braves to just 2-7 shooting the rest of the quarter to take a 15-11 advantage after one.

The shots didn't fall to Tech in the second quarter, allowing Alcorn to take a 24-21 lead into halftime.

The home team never gave up and focused on not letting the third quarter hinder their chances for the win. The defense forced Alcorn into six turnovers that turned into seven points, and the Lady Techsters cut into the lead heading into the final stanza.

The fourth quarter started slowly, with the teams combining for just two points in the first three minutes. The Lady Braves used a 6-0 run over a two-minute stretch to regain a three-point lead and force Tech to call a timeout. Roberson would come out of the timeout and power to give the Lady Techsters a chance with a minute reaming down 47-46.

After Roberson's shot went in, the Lady Techsters used a full-court press to force a turnover. Jianna Morris was able to throw the ball off the Alcorn player, giving the ball right back to the Lady Techsters. That would lead Morris to find Bates in the corner in front of the Lady Techsters bench for the game-winner.

Alcorn shot 45 percent from the field (22-49), with Nakia Cheatham leading the way with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Zy'Nyia White added 10, and Tyginae Wright had seven.

QUOTABLES

Head coach Brooke Stoehr
"I am really proud of our group for finding a way to win. It wasn't pretty, but at the end of the day, they found a way to make a play down the stretch offensively and defensively to secure a win. I don't care who we're playing or where it is; winning is hard at any level. Sometimes, you get in a rut, and breaking out of that is hard, so they need to experience that. I'm really proud of them for finding a way."

"It was a tough day offensively for us. We struggled to score there in that first half. That second quarter was tough. We got several good looks, but they didn't go down. We got offensive rebounds, didn't make a putback, and missed layups, but they stayed in it. That's the one thing about this group: when things haven't gone well, they haven't put their head down and pouted; they haven't quit."

On the Play of Jianna Morris…
"You know, we've been in tight games, and we just haven't been able to pull one out. So this will give them some confidence as we move forward. I thought Jianna Morris' play with a little over a minute to go where Anna Larr scores, and then Ji knocks the ball off of them and gives us the ball back for Sal to hit the three. We talk about winning moments; you never know when they will happen. If you're not engaged, and you're not giving great effort, those things can't happen. And I just thought that was Ji being who she is and really proud for her to make that play for our group at a critical time."

Salma Bates

On the last minute of the game…
"The momentum from Ji, just getting the stop, gave us the energy just to be like, hey, we're going to take this game, and we're going to win this game; there's no other option. That just led to the win. We stuck with it the whole way through, even when it didn't go our way.

On the play of Autumn Smith…
"We need everybody. Our whole team is a piece to the puzzle that, you know, we're going to need to complete every game to get a win. Autumn stepping up today was key for us, even though, you know, she showed up at a key point, like key times in the game. So we appreciate her effort just sticking with it and, you know, giving us a spark off the bench."

On the game-winning shot…
"I've been struggling the last few games. And then, you know, today's game was a little hard for my shooting. I just stuck with it, kept shooting, and had confidence in myself. Ji got me the open shot, and I took it. And, you know, I was just happy. I was happy that we got the win."

Anna Larr Roberson

On the difference of play in the third quarter…
We went to the locker room at halftime, just us girls. We talked about how we would flip it around this third quarter and start completely different and stay locked in from the beginning to the end of the ten minutes. We definitely tried to make it known that we were going to be better in that aspect. And that was one of our goals as a group of just us.

On the importance of getting paint touches…
"We talked about it yesterday, refocusing, trying to get paint touches, and creating open shots, even though it might be a good shot for us. We're trying to get a great shot and a better shot than what we think. It's all about allowing our teammates to be at their best where they are, whether that's shooting, in the paint, getting and ones, or moving the ball. It was all about us getting ball movement and getting everybody involved to get the defense on their toes."

NOTABLES
· LA Tech improved to 11-0 all-time against Alcorn.
· Anna Larr Roberson moved past Chery Ford for No. 28 on the all-time scoring list with 1,391 points.

Bates has knocked down three or more three-pointers in four games this season. This was the first time since Nov. 19 at No. 11 Texas.
Bates surpassed 300 career rebounds.
Autumn Smith tied a career-high with two 3-pointers, all three times have been this season.
Anja Bukvic tied a career-high with two assists, set this season against Richmond.

UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters will finish the homestand against California Baptist on Monday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be live on ESPN+ and KNBB 97.7 FM/LA Tech Athletics App.

LADY TECHSTER 50TH REUNION
Louisiana Tech is celebrating the 50th season of Lady Techster basketball. All former Lady Techster coaches, players, and staff are invited to the celebration held during the CUSA home opener against Sam Houston on Jan. 6, 2024. A reception will be held on Friday, Jan. 5, and formal recognition will be during the game.

RSVP at www.latechalumni.org/Techsters50th.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Lady Techsters Basketball, follow us on Twitter (@LATechWBB), Instagram (@LATechWBB), and Facebook (LATechWBB).

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