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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) -- Louisiana Tech is on another roll, and there is little the other women's teams in the Sun Belt Conference
can do about it.
Betty Lennox had 28 points and 10 rebounds and Catrina Frierson
added 19 points as the No. 3 Lady Techsters held off Arkansas State
91-81 in the Sun Belt tournament semifinals.
The top-seeded Lady Techsters (27-2), winners of 17 straight
games, will meet Western Kentucky, a 77-67 winner over Florida
International, in the championship game Saturday.
Julie Hagood scored 32 points, tying a tournament record, while
Keeshia Evans, a Louisville native, had 20 points and 14 rebounds
for Arkansas State.
"We didn't have an answer for Betty and they didn't have an
answer for Julie, either," said Brian Boyer, Arkansas State's
first-year coach.
Fifth-seeded Arkansas State (18-11) led 40-39 at halftime and
stayed close throughout the second half, trailing only 83-81 with
40 seconds left.
But Frierson made two free throws after being fouled beneath the
basket with 26.9 seconds left. Louisiana Tech went up 87-81 with
17.2 seconds to play when she sank two more free throws after being
fouled while trying to rebound a Hagood miss.
Ayana Walker then ended any hope of a Lady Indians victory by
blocking a shot by Evans and then hitting two free throws after
Evans fouled her. That put the Lady Techsters up 89-81 with 8.4
seconds remaining. Lennox's two free throws with 0.8 seconds left
completed the scoring.
"There are people in this country who don't think anything
about the Sun Belt Conference," Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore
said. "They're out of their minds."
The Lady Indians lost both of their regular-season games against
Louisiana Tech, a 95-59 defeat on the road on Feb. 15 and an 82-69
loss at home five days later.
Walker scored 12 points and Tamicha Jackson added 11 for
Louisiana Tech. Jolie McKeirnan had 10 points for Arkansas State.
Walker and Takeisha Lewis had 11 rebounds apiece for the Lady
Techsters. Frierson added eight and grabbed several key boards down
the stretch.
"I knew I had to step in and rebound," Frierson said. "My job
is to get out there and do that."
Evans lamented Louisiana Tech's 56-36 rebounding advantage.
"We didn't hit the boards hard enough and rebounding is the
bottom line," she said.
Hagood, who shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from the field and hit
all nine of her free-throw attempts, kept the Lady Indians in the
game in the second half when it appeared Louisiana Tech was poised
to pull away.
"It was a typical Julie Hagood performance," Boyer said.
"I've seen her do something like this for four years."
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Arkansas State Clubhouse
Louisiana Tech Clubhouse
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