Techsters Down UAM 79-52
By: Brandon Dunn
Updated: November 1, 2011
RUSTON, La. - Tavasha Anderson scored a game-high 19 points and Whitney Frazier and Whitney Jones added 18 points each to lead Louisiana Tech to a 79-52 exhibition win over Arkansas Monticello Tuesday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
"It gave me a better understanding of what we need to work on," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "It gave me an idea of what we will be good at. Our kids really put forth an effort to defend some things we hadn't seen before. We just have to get better with a few facets defensively and communicate a little more."
Anderson added 10 rebounds and Jones pulled down 13 boards to both record double doubles as the Lady Techsters outrebounded the smaller Cotton Blossoms 54-26 in the game.
"That's the one thing I mentioned in the locker room the rebounding of Whitney and Tavasha," Weatherspoon said. "It's important for our bigs to get rebounds every night. But to take a look at the stat sheet and see a guard with 13 rebounds, it's excellent. Whitney has the ability to get it done every night on the boards."
After a sluggish start that saw Arkansas-Monticello jump out to a 10-7 lead in the first five minutes, LA Tech responded going on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to lead 20-10 on an Anderson layup with 11:31 to play in the first half.
Tech's biggest lead of the first half came at 33-15 on a Jones layup with 6:01 to play as the Lady Techsters entered the halftime locker room leading 37-20. Tech shot 53 percent (17-32) from the field in the opening half.
Frazier, a true freshman from El Dorado, Arkansas, hit 7-of-12 field goals and 4-of-4 from the free throw line in her college debut as the Lady Techsters also got contributions from three other rookies in Courtney Hayes (6 points, 3 rebounds), Savanna Langston (3 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Kanedria Andrews (3 rebounds, 2 assists).
"I was really pleased with the (freshmen) understanding and grasping of what I said in huddle and trying to go between four lines and execute," Weatherspoon said. "They came in with energy but nervous. Once the ball went up the jitters went away. They need to understand they are in Division I basketball and in that uniform for a reason. They started to really perform and do well."
Taylor Clark led UAM with 14 points while Emili Slamons added 12 and Chelsea Johnson 11 points.
Tech returns to action Nov. 8 when it hosts Delta State at 7 p.m. in its final exhibition game before its season opener Nov. 11 against Missouri State.
