By Gabe Walker, Louisiana Tech Associate Director for Strategic Communications; featured photo by Gabe Walker
TOLEDO, Ohio — Louisiana Tech women’s basketball pulled off a gritty fourth quarter to win over Toledo in front of 3,844 fans inside of Savage Arena Monday night as a part of the MAC-SBC Challenge.
A 21-14 fourth quarter and 7-0 run with less than a minute left propelled the Lady Techsters past the Rockets. Trailing as much as six in the fourth, LA Tech scored 14 points in the paint and shot 72.7 percent from the field in the final frame to secure win number one, 61-57.
Jordan Marshall notched her first double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 14 and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Brittani Wells dished a game-high six assists in her Lady Techster’s debut, adding 11 points and a pair of steals.
Louisiana Tech struck first with Alexia Weaver nailing a triple on her first attempt, but both teams would battle for footing the rest of the quarter. The Lady Techsters led as much as five until the Rockets found momentum late in the frame, sending the team to the benches in a 14-14 tie to end the quarter. E’Marriha Johnson scored her first career points in the first, hitting a three-pointer in her first collegiate attempt.
Johnson kept the momentum going, scoring the next four Lady Techsters points to give the team a two point lead. Marshall’s layup with three minutes left gave LA Tech an eight point lead, while another Johnson layup gave the Lady Techsters a 30-24 cushion to end the half.
Johnson led the team with nine points in her first half of college basketball, shooting 4-7 from the field. LA Tech’s defense held Toledo to 3-14 three-point shooting, 31.0 percent from the field.
The Rockets sprung a 12-2 run over five minutes to take the lead for the first time since the first quarter. That lead stretched as much as five late in the frame, 43-38, but Alana Obianozie’s layup closed it to three to end the period. LA Tech was outscored 19-10 in the third quarter, turning the ball over seven times.
In the pivotal fourth quarter, the Lady Techsters rose to the occasion. Trailing by six with eight minutes left, Louisiana Tech brought the game within one behind another Obianozie layup through contact in under two-minutes. Toledo would lead by three with three minutes to play, but the Lady Techsters shot 4-4 in the final three minutes, taking the lead with 2:20 to play. The Rockets would shoot 1-7 in their final seven attempts while Obianozie iced the game at the free throw line, making both to win 61-57. It was the only time the Lady Techsters made both of their free throws in the game.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Brooke Stoehr
It doesn’t have to be pretty as long as it is gritty, and this group was gritty tonight. I thought we defended, rebounded, and took care of the ball really well in the first half. We lost our minds a bit in the third quarter, we took too many bad shots that led to transition. Credit to Toledo, they are a good team that will win a lot of games in the MAC. I thought we played sped up offensively at times and we need to clean that up and play with more poise.
I can’t say enough about that fourth quarter toughness. We learned something about our group tonight. This is a hard game to have first and we are going to look back on this win and see that this game is going to make us better. Really proud of our groups fight and resilience.
NOTABLES
- Head coach Brooke Stoehr won her 250th career game.
- Jordan Marshall notched her first double-double of her third-year campaign with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
- Marshall was the game leader in points and rebounds
- Brittani Wells led the game with six assists in her first action as a Lady Techster, adding 11 points.
- E’Marriha Johnson led the Lady Techsters with nine points in the first half, her first collegiate minutes in her career.
- LA Tech shot 72.7 percent from the field in the pivotal fourth quarter, making their last four shots in a row.
- Alana Obianozie made both her free throws with 19 seconds left to put the Lady Techsters up 3, the only time the Lady Techsters made both their free throws in the entire game.
- Obianozie in her Lady Techsters debut scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting, mixing in five rebounds and a steal.
- Louisiana Tech shot 47.4 percent (9-19) from the free throw line, their lowest percentage since shooting 46.7 (7-15) at Baylor in November last season.
- Three Lady Techsters scored in double-figures.
- Louisiana Tech’s defense held Toledo to 22.6 percent from three, shooting 7-31 in the game.
- The Lady Techsters defense locked down when they needed to, forcing the Rockets to make one of their last seven shots in the game.
UP NEXT
The Lady Techsters open the home slate in the Education Day game against Texas A&M-Texarkana on November 5th at 11:00 a.m inside the Thomas Assembly Center.