Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications Gabe Walker contributed to this report; featured photo by Josh McDaniel
RUSTON — The Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters completed an outstanding regular season with a 91-87 victory over UTEP Saturday night.
Louisiana Tech finished 25-4 overall and 17-1 in Conference USA. The Lady Techsters extended their winning streak to 17.
Louisiana Tech won the regular-season by five games over runner-up Florida International (19-10, 12-6).
The Lady Techsters haven’t lost since falling to Sam Houston 67-64 in their conference opener on Jan. 2.
As the regular-season champion, Louisiana Tech is the No. 1 seed in next week’s CUSA Tournament. The Lady Techsters received a first-round bye and will play the winner between Delaware (12-18) and Kennesaw State (13-16) in the quarterfinals Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at Propst Arena In Huntsville, Ala.
UTEP (13-16, 5-13) finished near the bottom of the conference, but the Miners made things tough for the Lady Techsters.
They led 38-37 at the half. The game was tied at 53 at the end of the third quarter.
Paris Bradley hit a 3-pointer to give Louisiana Tech a 73-67 lead with 4:41 left. The Techsters extended their winning streak lead to 75-66 on a layup by Alexia Weaver.
But UTEP went on a 13-3 run to go up 79-78 with 7.0 seconds left.
Bradley was fouled with :03 left. She missed the first free throw and made the second. The game went into overtime tied at 79.
With the score tied at 85, Louisiana Tech’s Averi Aaron hit a 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining. The Miners got within one with 23 seconds left.
Weaver hit two free throws with 13 seconds to play. Aaron made a steal and was fouled. She made a free throw with :01 left for the final margin.
Bradley led the Techsters in scoring with 26 points. She also had nine rebounds. Weaver scored 22.
Aaron had 13 points. Jordan Marshall and Jianna Morris had 10 each. Marshall grabbed nine rebounds.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Brooke Stoehr
We had to dig deep tonight to come out with the win. Give UTEP credit. They played really well and made some big shots. It was not our best defensive effort, but sometimes you have to credit your opponent. I am incredibly proud of the grit and resilience this group showed when we did not have our best and things did not go our way. They stayed true to who they have been all year and found a way to make enough stops and enough plays when we needed them. The beautiful thing about this group is that in a day and age when they could be a group of talented individuals about themselves, they have chosen over and over to be about the team. I am incredibly grateful for that and appreciate it so much. There is beauty in what we have watched this group accomplish so far this season because they have been the true personification of a team!
We will enjoy this and appreciate the moment and accomplishment of winning a regular season championship with this group. We will get back to work and concentrate on preparing to go 1-0 on Wednesday in Huntsville. We have stuck with our positive discontent all year and that will not change now. Everyone is 0-0 and we have to find a way to survive and advance!
NOTABLES
- This was the first game to go to overtime for the Lady Techsters this season.
- 91 points is the most LA Tech have scored in a conference game this season.
- 87 points is the most LA Tech have allowed in a conference game this season.
- Jianna Morris has made a triple in 35 straight games.
- Morris made a three pointer in every regular season game this season.
- This was the third game of 20+ points for Paris Bradley this season.
- Alexia Weaver has scored at least 20 points in three games this season.
- Five Lady Techsters scored in double figures.
- Both Bradley and Marshall were one rebound away from a double-double.
- Both teams scored 26 in the fourth quarter.
- The Lady Techsters have the longest win streak in CUSA the last 25 years with 17 in a row.
- Louisiana Tech won the last 17 games in a row of the regular season.
- The Lady Techsters have won 38 conference titles, 22 being in the regular season.
- The game consisted of 22 lead changes and 16 ties.