Lady Techsters regaining confidence, look to dominate Nicholls State

Dec 13, 4:37 PM (ET)

Louisiana Tech looks to continue rebuilding its confidence with a game against Nicholls State on Saturday.
The 17th-ranked Lady Techsters (4-2) followed up a humiliating 60-35 home loss to No. 4 Tennessee on Dec. 4 with a thorough 81-50 pounding of Louisiana-Lafayette on Monday.

Trina Frierson scored 17 points and Cheryl Ford added 13, while Toya George and Aarica Ray both set career highs with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

The effort was reassuring to first-year Tech coach Kurt Budke, who was glad to see his team rebound from its worst home loss in 22 games in the disastrous effort against Tennessee.

"I think we needed a win like this," said Budke, who replaced Leon Barmore in the offseason. "Our first five games this year have been pretty intense. We needed a game where we could get some of our younger players involved, and I think you saw tonight some of the potential."

Tech shot 48 percent (31-for-65) from the field, as opposed to 20 percent (14-for-70) against Tennessee.

The Lady Techsters have featured a balanced scoring attack, with four players averaging in double figures. Ford leads the way with 12.4 points per game, followed by Frierson, Erica Smith and Amber Obaze, with 10.8, 10.4 and 10.0 per game, respectively.

Tech can use this matchup against lightly regarded Nicholls State as another opportunity to improve its shooting percentage. The Lady Techsters have made just 36 percent of their shots, as opposed to 40.2 percent by their opponents, They have been especially bad from 3-point range, converting just 20.4 percent (10-for-49).

Nicholls State (2-3), which plays in the Southland Conference, is coming off Thursday's 81-60 loss at Grambling State. The Lady Colonels were outscored 45-23 in the second half en route to their third straight defeat.