In what can be described as a war of attrition offensively, Missouri State was effective just enough to end Louisiana Tech’s 19-game winning streak Saturday in the Conference USA Championship game in Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama.
The Bears held Louisiana Tech (26-6) to just 12 second half points while scoring just enough to squeak out the 43-38 victory and keep the Techsters from winning their first CUSA title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
How bad was it for Tech offensively? Tech managed to make just 15 field goals the entire game and shot 23% for the game on 15-of-66 attempts. During the winning streak, which dates back to Jan. 2 in their conference opener against Sam Houston, Tech made a living out of driving to the bucket and scoring points in the paint.
But the Bears (22-12) were having none of that on this day. Missouri State out-rebounded Tech 49-42 and swatted away 12 Louisiana Tech shots, led by Lainie Douglas with 7 blocks.
When the two teams did manage to get any offense going, it was Missouri State’s Kaemyn Bekemeier who came up clutch in leading the Bears with 16 points and 9 rebounds while Douglas added 15 points.
Even with their struggles shooting the ball, Tech had its chances down the stretch. Trailing 39-33 with under a minute left after making just 3-of-30 field goals in the second half, Paris Bradley drained a long three-pointer with 32 seconds left that cut the lead to 39-36.
Forced to foul, Tech put Bekemeier on the line and she sank both to increase the lead back to 5 at 41-36. Averi Aaron’s deuce with 13 seconds left gave Tech one last gasp of effort in cutting the lead back to 41-38 but it wasn’t enough.
Trying to win its first-ever Conference USA Tournament title and first since winning the WAC in 2010, Tech will have to settle for its regular season title that came by virtue of its dominating 19-game winning streak.
Neither team was effective getting anything going inside the paint or getting to the free throw line. In fact, Tech and Missouri State combined for only 14 free throw attempts in the entire game. Tech managed just 3-of-4 at the line.
Tech led at the half 26-23 by smothering the Bears with a tenacious defense. Missouri State didn’t fare much better shooting the ball Saturday, making just 17-of-52 shots for 33 percent.
The Techsters could have advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 and its first under head coach Brooke Stoehr. They’ll have to settle on finding out their post-season fate today.
Bradley led Tech with 14 points on the day, but shot 6-of-16 from the floor. Aaron added 12 points and was the only other Tech player in double figures. Jordan Marshall shot 1-of-8 from the floor for 5 points and 8 rebounds.
