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Anja Bukvic
Darrell James
73
Winner FIU FIU 15-6,6-1 CUSA
71
Louisiana Tech LATech 8-14,2-5 CUSA
Winner
FIU FIU
15-6,6-1 CUSA
73
Final
71
Louisiana Tech LATech
8-14,2-5 CUSA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
FIU FIU 15 24 20 14 73
Louisiana Tech LATech 17 20 17 17 71

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Kevin Albarez

Lady Techsters Drop Heartbreaker to Panthers

RUSTON – Florida International stole the ball and made a transition layup to beat Louisiana Tech, 73-71, on Thursday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
With the loss, Louisiana Tech dropped to 8-14 overall and 2-5 in Conference USA action. FIU improved to 15-6 and 6-1 in the league.
 
Robyn Lee opened the game with a quick jumper from the free-throw line to give the Lady Techsters an early lead. FIU would respond and take an 11-9 lead halfway through the quarter. Anja Bukvic and Anna Larr Roberson would propel Tech to a six-point run to regain the lead. The Panthers went on a four-point run on their own to tie the game up before Roberson knocked down two free-throws to give the Techsters a 17-15 lead after one.
 
Roberson, Bukvic, and Silvia Nativi combined for 17 of the 20 Lady Techsters points in the second. Eight of those came the way of Bukvic and Nativi during an 8-2 run to give Tech a seven-point lead.
 
Florida International didn't make a three-pointer in the first quarter but would knock down back-to-back triples to bring it within one. The Panthers would hit one more just as the buzzer sounded to end the half up 39-37.
 
FIU started the third with a five-point run and ended with a six in a row to take the lead 59-54 heading into the final stanza.
 
Coming out of the media timeout down 62-61, the Lady Techsters drew up a play to get the ball in Roberson's hands. After catching the ball on the right block, Roberson hit a turnaround jumper to ignite an 8-0 run to give Tech a seven-point lead, 69-62. FIU would close the game on an 11-2 to take the game.
 
Nine Lady Techsters scored in the game, with eight having five or more. Roberson and Bukvic were the only Techsters to score in double figures. Roberson finished with 15 points, while Bukvic had 11.
 
The Panthers finished with five players in double figures, led by Mya Kone, who scored 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
QUOTABLES
 
Head coach Brooke Stoehr 
"Congratulations to FIU; they are a great team and never gave up. Their kids finished the last minute of the game the way you should. We put ourselves in a position to win the game with a seven-point lead with a minute to go and didn't defend the sideline inbound. We went over their play in the timeout and had gone over in practice this week. We gave up a three to their best three-point shooter and then proceeded to come out and foul the same three-point shooter the next possession. We had 19 turnovers that led to 23 points for them, and the two at the end of the game were backbreakers. We did things well enough offensively to win the game. We got to the free throw line and didn't take advantage of it, and we're shooting 77 percent from the free throw line in conference play."
 
On the end of quarter situations…
"We talk about that a lot. We work on those; we worked on end-of-game situations today more than we have in a long time. We do it often, but we spent extra time this week, and it's disappointing that we had those lapses. Momentum is huge at the end of quarters, whether it's for you or against you, and they did a good job of taking the momentum. We should know what's going on. It's having the grit and the toughness to be in a stance, understand what's coming, communicate to each other, and be able to finish plays and possessions."
 
On losing the last three games by a combined eight points…
"We are fighting and competing, but you can't shoot yourselves in the foot. We have no other choice but to show back up and continue to work, compete, and get better. We're going to find a way to win a game. We're good enough to beat anybody in this league. We're bad enough to lose to anybody in this league when we don't play well. We're not playing winning basketball at critical moments, and it's killing us. We are going to figure out the issue, and we are going to put ourselves in a better position to finish one off."
 
NOTABLES
  • Louisiana Tech dropped to 17-2 all-time against FIU.
  • Bukvic has scored double figures in four of the last five games. She has 62 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists during that span.
  • Roberson has scored double figures in 16-of-22 games this season.
  • Tech forced FIU to 15 turnovers, their 12th opponent with 15 or more.
  • Tech's bench has scored 20 or more points in 11 games.
  • LA Tech used its fifth different lineup of the season.
  • The 29 free-throw attempts are a season-high for the Lady Techsters.
  • Tech finished with five blocks, their fourth game with five or more.
  • Thompson grabbed her 300th career rebound.
  • Bukvic started her first career game.
  • Thompson played in her 100th game. The junior played 24 games at Wisconsin and 76 at LA Tech.
  • Amaya Brannon played in her 70th game as a Lady Techster.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters are off on Saturday before traveling to Western Kentucky on Feb. 7 for a 6:30 p.m. CT tipoff on ESPN+.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Lady Techsters Basketball, follow us on Twitter (@LATechWBB), Instagram (@LATechWBB), and Facebook (LATechWBB).
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