By Kevin Albarez, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications
RUSTON — In a back-and-forth game, Louisiana Tech fell to Liberty 58-53 inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Saturday.
The Lady Techsters dropped to 8-16 overall and 2-7 in Conference USA, while Liberty improved to 11-14 and 6-4 in league play.
It looked like it would be a high-scoring game after both teams connected on two of their first three shots in the first two minutes. But after a three-pointer by Anja Bukvic gave Tech a 7-4 lead at the seven-minute mark, the defenses stepped up, and the teams would go scoreless over the next five minutes. Salma Bates knocked down a three with 30 seconds remaining to give the Lady Techsters a 12-9 lead after the first.
LA Tech and Liberty would continue to battle to the tune of 15 lead changes and 12 ties.
Coming out of the locker room down 29-23, Anna Larr Roberson accounted for five points during a Lady Techster 7-0 to regain the lead. Once again, the defenses would step up and force each team to miss their final five shots of the quarter.
The Lady Techsters hit their first four shots of the fourth to go up 46-42, but the Lady Flames continued to push back. After a three by Jordan Hodges gave Liberty the lead with a minute remaining, the Lady Flames hit six consecutive free throws to close the game out.
Bates led LA Tech with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting and connected on two three-pointers. Robyn Lee added 10 points and six rebounds.
Emma Hess led all scorers with 29 points on 50 percent shooting, including 6-of-10 from long range. Hodges chipped in 13 points, while Bella Smuda finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Brooke Stoehr
“Again, we had an opportunity to win a game today and were unable to finish one. It’s very frustrating. Winning is hard, and there’s a level of toughness you have to have in order to do so. We have to figure out a way to do things that create winning at critical times, and we haven’t been able to do that consistently. Finishing defensive possessions off with a loose ball rebound after forcing a contested, late-shot clock shot, converting free throw attempts, and taking quick shots early in possessions instead of forcing them to defend more than one pass are ways to play with toughness. We will continue to teach, make adjustments, and figure out who can help us play winning basketball this second half of conference play.”