KMAX: Sports

Louisiana Tech 94, Pepperdine 60

By MARY FOSTER
AP Sports Writer

RUSTON, La. (AP) Louisiana Tech had plenty of motivation against Pepperdine.

Sixth-ranked Tech owns the nation's longest active winning streak, and the Techsters have never lost an NCAA tournament game at home. Neither mark was in jeopardy Sunday night.

``We know what it's like to lose,'' Amber Obaze said. ``We did it twice this year. We don't want to do it anymore.''

Erica Smith scored 28 points as the fifth-seeded Lady Techsters defeated No. 12 Pepperdine 94-60 in the first round of the West Regional.

``I've been waiting all my life to play in the NCAA,'' Smith said. ``I got a little taste of it last year, but wasn't averaging that many minutes.''

Louisiana Tech (30-2) won its 28th straight and improved to 35-0 at home in the tournament. The Techsters will play Ohio State (22-9) in the second round Tuesday. The Buckeyes defeated Weber State 66-44 on Sunday night.

Tamara McDonald scored 16 points and Shanell Law had 11 for Pepperdine (22-8), which made its third tournament appearance in the past four years.

``It was tough to go inside,'' McDonald said. ``They are long and they're athletic. We had to basically be perfect to get the ball inside, and we definitely weren't.''

Trina Frierson added 21 points for Tech, which had an eight-day layoff before Sunday night's game. Obaze scored 14, while Cheryl Ford had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

``The game plan was to double down on Frierson and Ford,'' Pepperdine coach Mark Trakh said. ``I thought we did a pretty good job, but their perimeter kids played very well. Erica Smith and Obaze played very, very well. That kind of destroyed any game plan we had.''

That Tech could deal with the pressure inside was a sign of how far his team has come, coach Kurt Budke said.

``One or two months ago, you would come at us and say that if you stopped the inside game you would beat us,'' Budke said. ``That has changed and our guards did a wonderful job.''

Pepperdine turned the ball over 20 times, compared with 11 for Louisiana Tech. Tech also had 10 steals and blocked five shots and outshot the Waves 49 percent to 27 percent.

The Techsters led 56-25 at halftime.

Tech and Tennessee are the only teams to have played in all 22 NCAA tournaments.

(