By Kevin Albarez, Louisiana Tech Associate Director/Strategic Communications; featured photo by Darrell James
RUSTON — Louisiana Tech scored four points in the final 30 seconds to send the game to overtime. However, Middle Tennessee emerged victorious 64-61 inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Wednesday night.
Anja Bukvic’s three from the left wing would have sent the game into double overtime, but the shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
Louisiana Tech (7-10, 1-1 CUSA) started the game just 2-7 from the field, while Middle Tennessee (11-4, 1-0) built a 15-4 lead on 7-10 shooting. The Lady Techsters quickly settled down and forced the Blue Raiders into missing their final four shots of the quarter. Tech would go on a 6-0 run over the last two minutes to close the gap to five at the end of one.
Salma Bates knocked down her first three of the night to tie the game up at 17 apiece. On the next Middle possession, Bates grabbed the rebound and went coast-to-coast to give Tech their first lead of the game, extending their run to 13-0. The Blue Raiders would score the final four points of the half to take a 27-26 lead into the break.
Middle Tennessee’s Anastasiia Boldyreva and Ta’Mia Scott looked unstoppable early in the third. They scored 11 of the first 14 points of the quarter to push their lead to nine at 38-29.
Bukvic and Mackenzie Wurm gave Tech a spark around the six-minute mark. Bukvic sank two 3-pointers while Wurm had two mid-lane jumpers to make it 43-39 heading into the fourth.
Tech continued to have an answer every time Middle seemed to take the momentum. After a Jianna Morris jumper pulled the Lady Techsters to within one at 49-48, both teams would go without a point for two minutes. That is where the action picked up.
Middle had the ball up 54-50, and with the shot clock winding down, Savannah Wheeler looked to have a clear path to the basket. That is when Silvia Nativi came from the backside and sent the shot out of bounds as the shot clock hit zeros.
Anna Larr Roberson pulled up from right outside the paint and made it a one-possession game with 28 seconds remaining. Tech forced Wheeler to turn the ball over under the Lady Techster basket. Roberson got the ball just inside the arc on the left wing, got Boldyreva off the ground on the pump fake, and made a floater in the lane to tie it up with four seconds left. Middle would miss a potential game-winner, and it would go overtime.
Tech would grab the lead off a layup off the tipoff, but Middle would go on a mini-run to take the lead back at 58-56. The Blue Raiders held on to a four-point lead with four seconds remaining. That is when Bates hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to pull within one. Middle would knock down two free throws before Bukvic’s last-second shot.
Roberson and Bates led LA Tech with 14 points. Bukvic had eight points and four boards, while Wurm had seven points, five rebounds, and two blocks. Nativi had a team-high six boards and four assists.
Boldyreva had a game-high 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Scott finished with 20 points and 14 boards for MTSU.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Brooke Stoehr
“We got off to a poor start defensively. Once we settled in, we defended well. Defensively, you give up 64 to a team in overtime that can score it, and you don’t win. It’s a hard one to swallow, but I thought we took care of the basketball.”
“Baldariva’s really tough inside, and you’re either giving up threes or you’re giving up twos. We felt like we’d give up twos and play her one-on-one inside. She made us pay. They had two kids get double-doubles, and outside of that, we shut them down.”
On the play of Mackenzie Wurm…
“I said Tuesday that those three fives would be huge this week because Wurm and Kate (Thompson) have a little more length than Anna Larr, and they’re different types of defensive players. With Boulderava and then 55 (Iullia Grabovskaia) coming off the bench and then (Bella) Smuda on Saturday at Liberty, we need their length. She had some good moments. Just being able to give a different look, I thought she was big. And she needed that, and our group needed that. We tell them to always be ready.”