Louisiana Tech La. Tech/Fla International Fla. Int'l Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Takeisha Lewis had 18 points and 11 rebounds as Louisiana Tech beat Florida International 70-63 and finished the Sun Belt Conference regular season unbeaten for the third consecutive season.

Ayana Walker, Cheryl Ford and Essence Perry had 12 points each for Louisiana Tech (25-4, 16-0), which won its 13th straight game and extended its conference winning streak to 52 games.

The Lady Techsters looked tired, and with good reason. Thanks to two lengthy flight delays, they spent nearly 15 hours traveling from Ruston, La., to Miami on Friday.

"People should be so proud of this team," Tech associate head coach Kurt Budke said. "They went through so much the last two days and to give this kind of effort is incredible. We finished the game with heart."

After leading 45-29 with about 14 minutes to play, the Lady Techsters' lead dwindled to one, at 58-57, with less than five minutes remaining.

But they mustered enough energy for one final run on Saturday, a 10-0 spurt to pull away for good.

"We just told ourselves we had to keep going," said Brooke Lassiter, who had 10 points and eight assists. "We knew we were 15-0, and we had tomorrow to rest. We just decided to leave everything we had left on the floor."

Lewis finished 6-of-10 shooting from the field and was 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Walker, who was double- and triple-teamed much of the night, was held scoreless in the first 17 minutes of the second half before coming up big in the final run. With Tech leading 60-57 with less than three minutes remaining, Walker scored on an offensive rebound and putback and then converted a three-point play on Tech's next possession.

"It was hard for me to stay focused in the second half," Walker said. "The coaches kept telling me to hang in there. I was frustrated. Florida International had a great game plan. I just concentrated on rebounding and defense and managed to make a couple of big offensive plays at the end."

Reserve Mandy Shafer led Florida International (19-8, 10-5) with 16 points.

"Although we are not happy just hanging around with Tech, it was a nice team effort," said FIU coach Cindy Russo, whose team was outrebounded 44-36. "They are one of the best rebounding teams in the nation and they showed that tonight."

Even though the Lady Techsters already had secured the Eastern Division's top seed for next week's conference tournament, they had plenty on the line.

With an impending move to the Western Athletic Conference set for this summer, they wanted to continue their league domination and hopefully improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament.

Gergana Slavcheva scored 14 points for Florida International, despite shooting just 3-of-18 from the floor.

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Women's College Basketball Scoreboard

Louisiana Tech Clubhouse

Fla International Clubhouse