Western Kentucky rallies past Louisiana Tech 71-67

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Louisiana Tech was on the verge of yet another upset against one of the top teams in Conference USA, but the Lady Techsters dropped a heartbreaker, falling 71-67 at Western Kentucky Saturday afternoon at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Louisiana Tech (14-15, 6-12 C-USA) jumped out to a 12-point first-half lead before watching Western Kentucky (22-7, 14-4) fight back to take as much as a seven-point lead in the third quarter. The two teams continued to battle in a game that saw five ties and 11 lead changes.

Junior Raizel Guinto scored a career-high 20 points, hitting 6-of-10 3-pointers, but it was her layup with 2:27 to play in the game that gave Louisiana Tech a 67-66 lead. Louisiana Tech maintained the lead until less than a minute to play when Western Kentucky came down with a loose ball on the offensive end following a miss and converted with a Raneem Elgedawy layup with 53 seconds to play to go up 68-67.

“We were up 67-66 and couldn't get a loose ball and they kept possession and ended up scoring,” said Louisiana Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. “I thought that was a big play. We had gotten the stop but we couldn't get the loose ball.”

On Louisiana Tech's next possession, the Lady Techsters got a couple of opportunities. Louisiana Tech inbounded the ball following a missed shot and a loose ball that was knocked out of bounds by

Western Kentucky with 27 seconds to play. Amber Dixon drove down the left side of the lane and went up against two defenders and missed the shot, falling to the floor.

“I thought we got a great look on next to last offensive possession,” said Stoehr. “I am anxious to see that one on film. I thought she got ridden and hit on the play and there was no call. But that didn't lose the game.

“I thought we fought. We didn't back down. We got down seven in the second half and continued to fight. I thought Raizel shot the ball well which was good to see. We had some turnovers in the stretch where they came back. It's another gut-wrenching loss. We have had four of those in the last eight games.”

Louisiana Tech jumped out to an early lead, building as much as a 21-9 advantage in the opening quarter. Western Kentucky fought back to cut Louisiana Tech's advantage to 34-33 at halftime and then pulled ahead 58-51 late in the third quarter.

But the Lady Techsters rallied, closing the deficit to 58-55 at the end of the third and then opening the fourth quarter with a Guinto 3-pointer that tied the game at 58-58.

In addition to Guinto's effort, Anna Larr Roberson scored 11 points and added five rebounds while Amber Hawkison and Dixon each added 10 points.

Louisiana Tech will head to the Conference USA Tournament Wednesday with their opponent and game time to be determined later on Saturday.