“In the first half, our defense really set the tone,” said head coach Joan Bonvicini. “Our defense made our offense go. We were really aggressive, we forced a lot of turnovers, and we played pretty smart. In the second half, I thought we didn’t play with the same focus and had too many turnovers. I think the good thing was we got to the free throw line a lot and out-rebounded them significantly.”

Brenda Adhiambo (Mombasa, Kenya) got the Redhawks on the board first with a layup at 18:53 and, despite Louisiana Tech leading by two, 4-2, at 16:16, Seattle U tied the game a minute later and led for the rest of the contest.

Adhiambo drove in another layup at 10:42 to give SU their first double digit lead, 14-4, with Ashley Ward (Irvine, Calif.) contributing eight points on the 12-0 run.

Kelia Shelton added a layup for LA Tech to put them within eight, 14-6, at 9:58, but the Redhawks then went on an 18-4 run over the next five minutes to lead by 22, 32-10.

The teams traded baskets and Jelena Vucinic added a free throw, as the Redhawks held on to a 21 point lead at the half, 34-13. Eighteen of the Redhawks’ points in the first half came off of Louisiana Tech turnovers.

Seattle U took their largest lead of the game, 36-13, at 19:38 on a layup by Adhiambo coming out of the halftime break.

Louisiana Tech answered with a 9-2 run to come within 16, 38-22, at 17:02 with contributions from three different Lady Techsters, and, following three straight scoreless minutes, came within 16 again, 42-26, at 13:13.

The Lady Techsters closed the margin to 12 three different times in the final five and a half minutes, but this would prove to be as close as they would come. Ward made four straight free throws at just over the one minute mark to seal the victory, as the Redhawks won, 64-47.

Ward led all players with 20 points. Kacie Sowell (Ventura, Calif.) scored 13 points and recorded 12 rebounds, recording her fifth double-double in the last six games and tenth overall this season. Adhiambo also scored 13 points, and Daidra Brown (Seattle, Wash.) scored 12. Sylvia Shephard (Alta Loma, Calif.) posted double figures in rebounding, bringing down 11.

Whitney Frazier led the Lady Techsters with 14 points, and Brittany Lewis recorded a team-leading eight rebounds.

Seattle U led from the field, shooting 37.9 percent (22-for-58) to Louisiana Tech’s 29.2 percent (19-for-65), as well as from behind the three-point line 16.7 percent to 7.7 percent) and from the free-throw line (57.6 percent to 47.1 percent). The Redhawks outrebounded the Lady Techsters, 55-38.

The Redhawks hit the road for two straight weekends, first traveling to University of Texas San-Antonio on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. PT before going to Texas State on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 12 p.m. PT. They return to the Connolly Center on Thursday, Feb. 7 as they host Denver at 7 p.m.