Katlyn Manuel layup vs. LA Tech 2022
Luke Richard/ULM Athletics
68
Winner Louisiana Tech LATech 3-0,0-0 C-USA
53
ULM ULM 1-1,0-0 Sun Belt
Winner
Louisiana Tech LATech
3-0,0-0 C-USA
68
Final
53
ULM ULM
1-1,0-0 Sun Belt
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Louisiana Tech LATech 17 16 14 21 68
ULM ULM 6 18 20 9 53

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

New-Look Warhawks Show Promise; Comeback Bid Falls Short Against LA Tech

MONROE, La. – Amaya Brannon scored a career-high 18 points and Anna Larr Roberson added a double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds, as Louisiana Tech withstood ULM's second-half rally for a 68-53 victory Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 1,213 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
 
ULM (1-1) scored the first points of the game on Aasia Sam's steal and fast-break layup with 8:50 left in the first quarter, but LA Tech reeled off the next 11 points. Amaya Ford ended a scoring drought the lasted more than six minutes by hitting a 15-foot jumper from the right elbow with 2:47 to play in the period. Gara Beth Self hit a jumper from inside the paint at the buzzer to cut ULM's deficit to 17-6. The Warhawks hit just one of their last 10 field-goal attempts in the first quarter.
 
LA Tech (3-0) led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter. Keiunna Walker's 3-pointer gave the Lady Techsters a 24-11 advantage with 6:12 remaining in the first half. ULM outscored LA Tech, 13-4, over the next 3 1/2 minutes and cut the deficit to four points at 28-24 on Katlyn Manuel's layup with 1:48 on the clock. Roberson completed a traditional three-point play and Brannon added a layup as the Lady Techsters took a 33-24 lead into the halftime intermission.
 
LA Tech led for 18 of the first 20 minutes. After shooting just 20 percent (3-of-15) from the floor in the first quarter, the Warhawks hit 7-of-15 field-goal attempts (47 percent) in the second quarter, including 2-of-3 3-pointers.
 
The Lady Techsters opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run and took a 16-point lead at 42-26 on Silvia Nativi's 3 from the right wing with 7:34 on the clock. Kierra Brimzy's 12-foot jumper from the right side of the lane fueled a 17-4 run as ULM pulled to within 46-43 on Manuel's right-handed hook shot from inside the paint with 1:04 to play in the period. The teams traded free throws in the final 30 seconds, and LA Tech maintained its three-point advantage at 47-44 after three quarters. Manuel (7) and Brimzy (6) combined to score 13 of the Warhawks' 20 points in the period.
 
LA Tech scored eight consecutive points to open the fourth quarter and extended its lead to 55-44 on a pair of free throws from Walker with 7:18 left. The Lady Techsters outscored ULM, 21-9, in the final period to secure its fifth-straight win in the I-20 series. LA Tech, which shot 53 percent (8-of-15) from the field including 2-of-2 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, led by as many as 17 points in the last 2:05. The Warhawks managed to make just 4-of-15 field-goal attempts (27 percent) over the final 10 minutes.
 
"Give credit to Louisiana Tech," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "They're a very good basketball team. They return the majority of their production last year's really good team. So, we knew it would be a tough challenge.
 
"I thought we did some good things against (Anna Larr) Roberson. And of course, I'd hate to see anybody get injured, but we had an opportunity when (Salma) Bates went out early. Bates was the hot player in Tech's last game. I'm just disappointed we couldn't get going on the defensive end. We wanted to be a lot more aggressive than we were able to be this afternoon. We seemed a little bit tight to start the game. And once we loosened up, I thought we had a really good second quarter and a decent third quarter other than the start of the second half.
 
"We have to find some consistent scoring," Williams continued. "We got some good looks really and just missed some really good shots (at the rim). I mentioned we were a little tight to start the game, but you've got to knock down the easy shots. We'll go back to work and learn from this game. Obviously, we're disappointed because of the rivalry with Tech. It's a high-intensity game, an important rivalry for our fans and it's always exciting to play them, especially here at Fant. We wanted the outcome to be different, but we're going to take this game, learn from it and get ready to play our next opponent, Centenary, on Tuesday."
 
Bannon, who connected on 8-of-14 shots from the field, led four Lady Techsters in double figures while matching her career high with nine rebounds. LA Tech also got 13 points from Walker and 10 from Robyn Lee.
 
Manuel, who narrowly missed posting her second-straight double-double, paced the Warhawks with 13 points and nine boards. She made 6-of-13 field-goal attempts and blocked four shots.
 
"Katlyn (Manuel) continues to be a mismatch for opponents," Williams said. "She adds a quiet explosiveness to the lineup. Katlyn has been aggressive on the offensive end and she can do some damage as the season progresses. I'm really excited about the start she has had for our team."
 
Brimzy added 10 points.
 
Sunday's matinee also marked the ULM debut of 6-foot-5 center Emma Merriweather, who contributed seven points, five rebounds and a blocked shot in 8 1/2 minutes of playing time. Merriweather, a graduate transfer from Kansas who sat out the exhibition game against Millsaps and season opener against Louisiana Christian with a knee injury, hit 3-of-5 shots from the floor against the Lady Techsters.
 
"We've got good things happening," Williams said. "Emma Merriweather was able to get some minutes today and so did Sha'Miya Butler. Gara Beth Self also returned to the lineup. So, those are three big keys to what we do as we move forward. Emma and Sha'Miya will be major impact players for us in the paint, and it's important that they were able to get their feet wet today against a quality opponent, like Louisiana Tech, and against a veteran all-conference player, like Roberson.
 
"Emma was the first person to suit up for today's game, and she did some really positive things in her first outing. She's only going to get better from here. Emma only practiced for a day and a half and really hasn't done a whole bunch of running up and down the floor. But, she provides something we've never had here before. We haven't had that size in the post. With Emma, Sha'Miya and Diamond (Brooks) in the paint, it frees up Katlyn Manuel to be able do a lot of other things, face up more and play her true position. It also shifts Aasia Sam, Amaya Ford and Kierra Brimzy back to the perimeter. We've practiced one way for the last two months, but for the last couple of days, we've been able to reinsert those guys back into the rotation. There's a quick turnaround before the next game, but there are a lot of bright spots and a lot of good things to take away from today's game."
 
ULM continues its four-game season-opening homestand against Centenary on Tuesday, Nov. 15, with tipoff set for 11:30 a.m. for the annual Education Day game.
 
Emma Merriweather layup vs. LA Tech 2022

 
 
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