Reserves, rebounds play big role in 77-59 WAC win
, buddy@rustonleader.com
02-16-2009
Teresa Weatherspoon is 2-0 as interim head coach of the Lady Techsters.Much more importantly — she’ll be the first to tell you, too — is that Louisiana Tech University is sneaking its way back into the upper echelon of the Western Athletic Conference standings.
With an impressive 77-59 victory over Nevada (13-11, 7-4) at the Thomas Assembly Center Sunday afternoon, the Lady Techsters (14-11, 7-4) could be turning the regular season race into a down-to-the-final-series finish.
After the second league win in the past three days was achieved in front of 1,720 fans, Tech assured itself of no lower than a fourth place slot as the next-to-last week of the regular campaign winds down for the conference.
That’s one notch above where the Techsters were situated before stopping Hawaii 68-56 on Friday night, when Weatherspoon made her debut as the interim head coach, and then taking care of a talented Nevada club which had beaten Tech 64-57 earlier in Reno.
This time, it was all Techsters, save for brief runs made by Nevada late in the first half and then early in the final half.
“I thought our players did a great job today of playing hard and with a lot of intensity,” Weatherspoon said. “It didn’t matter who was out there, our starters or our reserves, they were all giving us a great effort today and that’s all you can ask as a coach.”
The Techsters began building double-digit leads in the game’s first six minutes, led by as many as 23 (29-6) with just under seven minutes left in the first half and then enjoyed advantages of 11 or more points in the game’s last eight minutes.
Energy-wise, Tech players showed even more spark than they did against Hawaii, and maybe some of it was a result of their coach’s own fire-brand demeanor. After junior guard Whitney Jones scrambled to save an errant pass under the basket and feed to junior forward Shanavia Dowdell for a lay-up in the first half, Weatherspoon jumped up and began clapping. When the team gathered for a timeout several minutes later, she was the first to greet Jones and give her a hug.
Ditto for early in the final half, when Brietta Thomas made a big defensive stop. Again, Weatherspoon was quick to congratulate the sophomore guard from Baton Rouge as the team huddled during another timeout.
“Coach Weatherspoon believes in hard work and intensity, so that’s what we are trying to give every time we’re out on the floor,” said junior guard Tiawana Pringle, who had seven points, five steals and two rebounds.
“It’s about all of us, not just one. It’s about all of us keeping our energy level up the whole game so we can make plays and do things that can help us win.”
The big difference between this game and Tech’s earlier loss to the Wolf Pack was on the boards.
Whereas the Techsters were held to only 27 rebounds at Nevada and were particularly stymied on the offensive end, they finished with a 43-27 lead this time. Dowdell had nine of those rebounds along with a game-leading 20 points and sophomore forward Adrienne Johnson totaled six and Jones seven.
“This Nevada team had been outrebounding everybody by nine rebounds a game,” Weatherspoon said. “We told our players to put a body on somebody and go get the rebound. It was all about attacking the basketball and going after it, and that’s what our players did today.”
There was outstanding play from Techsters’ reserves, from first-year guard Jasmine Bendolph with her six points, two assists and two rebounds to sophomore guard Tarkeshia Wysinger and her two points and three boards and Thomas with her seven points and four rebounds.
“Everybody was fired up today and it showed in their intensity and hustle,” Weatherspoon.
Tech shot 55.4 percent from the field and held Nevada to a 40.0 mark, but committed 19 turnovers.
“You have to value the basketball,” Weatherspoon. “The basketball is like your mother’s purse. You don’t want to lose it. Today, we gave away our mother’s purse too many times.”
While she is seemingly animated on a 24/7 basis, Weatherspoon seemed even more energetic and outgoing in this game. She spent much of the time walking in front of the bench, urging on her players, signaling various plays and — yes — having some “conferences” with the officials in which she was probably discussing more than just the nice weather outside.
“It’s basketball and that’s what I love, so it’s going to make me show a lot of excitement and passion for something I truly love,” she said. “But as I’ve said before, it’s not about me. These two wins that we’ve got the last couple of games, they’re not about me. They’re for the players. I’m excited for them and what they’re doing under what has been some tough circumstances. I’m super proud of them.
“We just want to keep turning the corner.”
More wins like the one Sunday afternoon and that’s exactly what the Lady Techsters will be doing.
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