Women's basketball team defeated by No. 2 La. Tech

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman guard Julie Brase (20) goes up for a shot during yesterday's game against second-ranked Louisiana Tech. Brase had 16 points and was named to the Insight.com Basketball Classic all-tournament team.

Last month, it was Purdue, which was ranked No. 1 and coming off a victory over Tennessee at the time. Yesterday afternoon, it was No. 2 Louisiana Tech, which was coming off a loss the previous week to the Lady Vols.

The Lady Techsters defeated Arizona 85-72 in the championship game of the Insight.com Bowl Basketball Classic. No. 18 Iowa State hammered Sam Houston State 82-56 in the consolation game.

"I thought our game plan was pretty good," UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "We played very solid in the first half, real aggressive."

Arizona had a nine-point lead in the first half, but allowed the Lady Techsters to take a 42-40 lead at halftime. Tournament MVP Tamicha Jackson caught fire in the second half, finishing with 30 points. Jackson shot 7 of 13 behind the three-point line.

"I thought we did a good job executing our game plan until Tamicha Jackson went crazy," Bonvicini said.

Louisiana Tech head coach Leon Barmore was proud of his team for pulling out the victory.

"Tamicha had a great offensive game," Barmore said. "We put her on the wing for this game, and if she shoots like that, we may have to play her there more often."

Junior forward Angela Lackey led Arizona with 20 points, while freshman guard Julie Brase had 16 points. Junior guard Lisa Griffith had 12 points, but all of those came in the first half.

"Off the bench, Angela Lackey did much better in the post," Bonvicini said. "I challenged her to look for her shot and she did. We didn't utilize her enough, though."

The home crowd sparked Arizona to an early lead, and stayed involved throughout the entire game.

"We took it to them because we felt they couldn't take the pressure," junior forward Tatum Brown said. "This is our gym, and we took it to them."

Arizona defeated Sam Houston State Friday night, 85-72. Louisiana Tech beat Iowa State 89-60.

Brown scored a season-high 18 points, Felecity Willis had 16 points and Elizabeth Pickney had 14 points and 11 rebounds Friday night.

Brase and Griffith were Arizona's representatives on the all-tournament team. Monica Maxwell of Louisiana Tech and Desiree Francis and Megan Taylor of Iowa State rounded out the squad.

Jackson was named the tournament MVP.

"This one you've got to forget about," Willis said. "We played our hearts out, and you can't ask for more than that."

Bryan Rosenbaum can be reached via e-mail at Bryan.Rosenbaum@wildcat.arizona.edu.