By Kevin Albarez, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications; featured photo by Darrell James
RUSTON — Freshmen Paris Bradley and Averi Aaron had career-highs to lead Louisiana Tech to an 83-71 victory over Kennesaw State on Saturday afternoon in the Thomas Assembly Center.
Bradley had 21 points on 7-12 shooting for her fifth consecutive game scoring in double figures. Aaron finished 5-7 for 13 points while adding five rebounds and two assists.
Louisiana Tech (11-6, 4-2 CUSA) turned the ball over on their first two possessions and then missed layups on the next two but only found themselves down 2-0. Kennesaw State’s (6-10, 1-4) only lead of the game came off a layup just over two minutes into the contest. Robyn Lee quickly tied it up on the Techsters’ next possession.
That started a string of four consecutive makes and five of six, highlighted by 3-pointers from Bradley and Aaron. The Owls would hit two triples of their own and pull the score within one with two minutes to go in the quarter. LA Tech would close the stanza out on a 9-2 run to have a 23-15 lead after one.
That lead grew to 11 just a minute into the second. Tech would go cold over the next three minutes, allowing KSU to pull back within two at 28-26. Coach Brooke Stoehrwould call a timeout and settle the Lady Techsters down.
That timeout worked, and LA Tech went back up by six less than a minute later. The Techsters would go into the locker room up 43-35.
The shots didn’t fall for Tech in the third quarter. However, the Techsters would do what they do best, get to the free throw line. The first four points of the quarter came from the charity strip for LA Tech. The only shots to fall would be three 3-points, two by Bradley and one by Jianna Morris.
KSU would work back within four with over eight minutes to go. That is when LA Tech started to knock down shots, connecting on 7-11 to pull away gradually.
Louisiana Tech shot 26-58 for the game, 7-17 from behind the arc, and 24-34 from the line. Lee finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Morris was 9-10 from the line and finished with 15 points. Isla Airey nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
Kennesaw State finished 40.9 percent from the field but just 25 from deep and 66.7 from the line. Keiara Griffin led four Owls in double figures with 18. Kailyn Fields had 16, Keyarah Berry had 14, and Prencis Harden finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Brooke Stoehr
“I thought our group scored the ball well today. We really did a good job of getting out in transition and attacking early and sharing the ball. Our guards did a tremendous job of attacking downhill and handling their pressure to get paint touches. We had a balanced attack and that has been a winning formula for the group. We showed some toughness in the 4th and forced some contested shots and kept them off the offensive glass. I thought that led to some good looks offensively as we were able to close the game out in that stretch. This group continues to grow together and pull for one another. We will need to continue that as we prepare for the road trip next week. I’m very proud of their response this week and for protecting home court.”
NOTABLES
- Paris Bradley has scored double figures in five consecutive games and nine of the past 11 games.
- Bradley has had an assist in every game this season.
- Louisiana Tech outrebounded Jax State 43-32, the 11th time outrebounding an opponent this season.
- Robyn Lee has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games, the last player to do so was Keiunna Walker with 26 straight from Nov. 27, 2022, to March 16, 2023.
- Lee has 941 career points.
- Isla Airey has multiple blocks in 12 games.
- Airey breaks is one block behind LaShawn Brown for the sixth most by a freshman in Lady Techster history.
- Jianna Morris has played and started in 50 games in her career.
- Sydney Thomas played in her 100th game of her career, 83 at Kentucky State and 17 at LA Tech.
- LA Tech has multiple blocks in 14 games this season.
- Tech got shot 30 or more free throws for the fifth time this season.
- The Lady Techsters start 4-0 in conference play at home for the first time since the 2010-11 season, the first time in CUSA.
- Louisiana Tech improved to 1-0 all-time against Kennesaw State.
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech goes back on the road for the next three games. The Lady Techster will travel to WKU on Thursday for an 11 a.m. CT tip. It will be the third Education Day game the Lady Techster will participate in, just one of three teams in the country with three or more this season.
