Louisiana Tech La. Tech/Middle Tennessee State M.Tenn. St Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) -- Playing on the road always worries Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore. Add to that some rust after not playing in a week, and it almost got worse.

His Lady Techsters (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) struggled early to find the basket but finally warmed up in beating Middle Tennessee State 80-57 Thursday night for their fourth straight victory.

"I was real concerned about this game," Barmore said. "One it was so late (tipping off at 10 p.m. EST for television). Two I had not played this team and wasn't familiar with them like the other Sun Belt teams."

Middle Tennessee joined the Sun Belt Conference this season and hadn't played Louisiana Tech (16-4, 7-0 Sun Belt Conference) since a visit to Ruston, La., in 1985.

Then Barmore watched his Lady Techsters hit only two of their first 11 shots against Middle Tennessee (9-10, 2-6). Thankfully, the Lady Raiders couldn't shoot any better and hit just three of their first 12 attempts.

"We were kind of fortunate there," Barmore said. "If they'd been making shots, it could've totally been a different game. I respect them as I do anybody, but it did help. We kept plugging away, plugging away and got the win."

For Middle Tennessee, it was a chance at one of the biggest victories in school history against the highest-ranked team ever to visit Murphy Center. Nerves showed early as several shots never came near the basket.

"We weren't knocking shots down: layups, outside shots, everything," forward Joanne Aluka said. "Of course, this is a big team, has a lot of tradition and history. But coming in, we had to be aware of that."

Louisiana Tech dominated the Lady Raiders all over the floor, outrebounding them 57-32 and outshooting them 48 percent compared to 29 percent. That was a season-low for Middle Tennessee, which had been shooting 47 percent.

Ayana Walker led five players in double figures with 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Lady Techsters stretched their Sun Belt Conference winning streak to 43 straight games.

Cheryl Ford and Brooke Lassiter added 12 points apiece for Louisiana Tech, which now has beaten Middle Tennessee in all three of their meetings. Obaze finished with 13 points, and Kenya Bibbs had 10.

The Lady Techsters took the lead for good with a pair of free throws by Amber Obaze at 7-6 and used a 17-4 run to build a 41-20 halftime lead. They led by as many as 33 points in the second half, and Middle Tennessee never got closer than 21.

Jamie Thomatis led Middle Tennessee with 15 points, and Aluka had 10.

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Women's College Basketball Scoreboard

Louisiana Tech Clubhouse

Middle Tennessee State Clubhouse