Pack The House
 
Techsters Roll to 78-40 Win Over Fresno State


 

  
Updated Jan 28, 2007 16:02:16


Techsters Roll to 78-40 Win Over Fresno State


Boxscore

RUSTON – Shan Moore scored 17 points to lead four players in double figures as Louisiana Tech dismantled Fresno State 78-40 before 2,412 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center Saturday night.

Moore, who became the 37th player in Tech history to reach the 1,000-point plateau on a lay-up with 7:12 to play in the game, triggered the Lady Techsters fast start as Tech (10-10, 5-2 WAC) cruised to its biggest win of the season.

“I’m just happy for our players,” said Tech head coach Chris Long. “They’ve continued to work, and I’m just glad they had such a good performance. We continue to work and get better. When we shoot the basketball like we did tonight, we are good because we continue to defend and rebound.”

Moore, who hits 8-of-17 shots on the night, scored six points in the early going as her teammates seemed to feed off of her good start. Tech led only 10-8 before a Moore jumper at the 14:38 mark of the opening half started a 26-6 run that gave Tech what appeared to be a commanding 22-point lead with just over four minutes to play before halftime.

Fresno State (11-9, 4-3), which had already posted two wins over Top 25 teams this season, finished the first half on a 14-3 run and cut the Tech deficit to only 39-28 at the half.

Despite hitting only 7-of-24 field goals in the first half, Fresno State made 14-of-16 free throws to remain within striking distance.

Tech refused to let this one get away though. The Lady Techsters used a 21-2 run to begin the second half to grab a 60-30 lead on a pair of free throws by Nastassja Levingston with 9:43 to play.

“When you defend well, and then come back down the floor and score, that’s how you separate yourself,” Long said. “That’s where we have struggled this year. We did that tonight. I thought we played well in all phases of the game.”

Tech shot 47 percent (27-57) from the field, 50 percent (5-10) from the three point line and 73 percent (19-26) from the free throw line while holding Fresno State to only 26 percent (13-51) from the field.

The Lady Techsters held Fresno State’s top two scorers Chantella Perera and Tierre Wilson to only 3-of-17 shooting from the field while forcing them into 10 turnovers.

“I guarantee you those two are tough to defend,” Long said. “I thought we made it tough for them to get good looks. I felt like we came out and defended, and we did even a better job in the second half.”

Tech also outrebounded the Bulldogs 45-26, including 27-9 in the final 20 minutes of play.

Eboni Mangum added 14 points, while Ty Moore registered a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Shanavia Dowdell scored a career-high 10 points and added a career-high seven rebounds.

Paige Diggs led Fresno State with 10 points.