HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Louisiana Tech pushed Middle Tennessee to the limits before falling, 62-56, Friday night inside VBC Propst Arena.
Â
The fourth-seeded Lady Techsters (14-19, 7-9) started the game strong and jumped to an 11-5 lead at the first media timeout. The top-seeded Lady Raiders (28-4, 16-0) battled back with a 12-2 run to take the lead, but
Anna Larr Roberson knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired to end the first quarter tied at 17 apiece.
Â
The teams traded baskets for the majority of the second, and Tech held a 31-30 lead heading into the locker room.
Â
LA Tech extended the lead to six after a triple by
Silvia Nativi, but MTSU used a 9-0 run to regain it. The two teams traded six-point runs, and Middle Tennessee held a 45-42 lead heading into the final stanza.
Â
The Lady Raiders pushed the run to 12 with the first six points of the final quarter to take a nine-point lead with eight minutes to go. The Lady Techsters closed the gap to four on multiple occasions but couldn't overcome the deficit the rest of the way.
Â
Tech finished the game 35 percent (20-57) from the field, 37 percent (7-19) from deep and 90 percent (9-10) from the line. Middle shot 38 percent (20-52) overall, 26 percent (5-19) from long range, and 89 percent (17-19) from the charity stripe.
Â
Jianna Morris led the Techsters with 14 points and five rebounds. Roberson finished with 13 points, while Nativi had 10 boards and seven assists.
Â
Middle Tennessee finished with three players in double figures, led by Savannah Wheeler with 22 points. Anastasiia Boldyreva had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Â
NOTABLES
- Louisiana Tech dropped to 7-13 all-time against Middle Tennessee.
- The Lady Techsters dropped to 3-3 all-time as a No. 4 seed and 22-6 in semifinal games.
- The Lady Techsters finished with a program record 199 3-pointers on the season.
- Roberson moved into 17th on the Lady Techsters' all-time scoring list with 1,646 points, passing Kay Ford. She also finished her career with an 80.6 percent clip from the free-throw line for third in program history.
- Salma Bates finished with 60 3-pointers on the season to finish seventh in program history for a single season.
- Morris played 1,053 minutes on the season, the second most by a freshman in program history only behind Whitney Jones with 1,110 during the 2008-09 season.
- Nativi had her 10th game with 5+ assists and sixth with seven or more.
- Morris now has 218 points and 102 rebounds in her freshman campaign.
Â
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Lady Techsters Basketball, follow us on Twitter (
@LATechWBB), Instagram (
@LATechWBB), and Facebook (
LATechWBB).