By Brian Tynes

Sports Writer

Western Athletic Conference foes need to look no farther than last year's champion for the team to beat this season.

The Lady Techsters began conference play on Dec. 30 against the University of Tulsa and have continued their WAC domination by shooting out to a 4-0 conference record and 8-4 overall record.

The contest at Fresno State University saw two Techsters combine for 55 points in an 80-70 victory over the 10-3 Lady Bulldogs.

Junior Tasha Crain shot nine of 18 from the field and eight of 11 from the free-throw line to lead the Techsters with her second-highest career point total of 28 points, and Crain scored the first nine points of the game. She also added seven rebounds, six assists and committed just one turnover in over 30 minutes.

Crain scored only one point more than senior Lakiste Barkus, who posted a career-high 27 points and led the team with four steals.

After the game, Tech's head coach Kurt Budke had nothing but praise for his dynamic duo.

"Tasha Crain is one of the top point guards in the country," Budke said. "What sets her apart are games like this where not only does she score, but she rebounds, takes care of the ball and defends. Lakiste can be an explosive player when she makes good decisions, and she definitely did that today."

The two high-scoring guards fueled a fire that raged to a 43-30 halftime lead. Then they combined for 31 of Tech's 37 second half points.

But a cold spot mid-way through the second half allowed Fresno State to cut a 25-point Tech lead to 10 with a 27-12 run.

As a team, Tech shot 47 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from three-point range, and garnered a season-high 18 steals with all nine players earning at least one.

Prior to the standout performances against Fresno State, Tech relied on double-digit performances by Crain (17), Aarica Ray-Boyd (13) and Shan Moore (11) to propel it past the University of Nevada (4-9, 0-3 WAC).

Following a four-point halftime lead, the Techsters opened the second half with an offensive flurry, outscoring home-standing Nevada 14-1 to go up 45-28. Nevada did not hit a field goal until almost six minutes into the second half.

"I was proud of the way the team responded in the second half," Budke said. "For some reason we just seem to be a second half team this year. If we ever go into the locker room with a bigger lead than four or five points, I'm not sure what I'll do."

Crain, in the first game since scoring her career-high, scored 11 of her game-high 17 points in the second half, and the Techsters hit 57 percent from the field to take the game 69-52.

Other leading scorers for Tech were Margaret DeCiman with nine, Ty Moore with six, who also added a career-high nine rebounds, and Barkus with six points.

The Techsters made a statement on New Year's Day at home against Rice University, the only team to hold a WAC victory over Tech.

Crain led the Techsters to a 76-66 come-from-behind win with a career-high 29 points on her 21st birthday in front of a crowd of 2,072.

Crain helped resurrect a Techster offense that shot 42 percent from the field in the first half and spurred a comeback from a deficit that climbed to as much as 16 points, after being only seven points at halftime.

Budke said it was good to see his team play with heart.

"This team didn't give up," Budke said. "If we don't take anything else away from it, we learned you can never give up. This was definitely an entire team effort, but Crain is the team leader. She showed it tonight."

Five Techsters hit big shots during a 30-6 run, 16 points of which belonged to Crain.

The game-changing moment occurred with 0:52 remaining when Rice guard Eshombi Singleton fouled out after a rebound by Tech's forward Tamika Kursh and was called for a technical on her way to the bench, allowing Crain to add two points on the ensuing free throws.

Shan Moore and Barkus added 19 and 11 points, respectively.

In the WAC opener versus Tulsa, Tech struggled in the first half by shooting 32 percent from the field, but Tech benefited from strong defense by holding Tulsa to just 25 percent from the field.

After leading by five at halftime, Tech shot 48.5 percent from the field in the second half to pull away with a 63-47 win.

Crain led the Techsters with 12 points, while DeCiman and Barkus added 11 apiece. Ray-Boyd was the only other Techster in double-digits with 10. Shan Moore added nine points and led the team with 10 rebounds.

Before opening conference play, the Techsters suffered two setbacks at the hands of Oklahoma and Tennessee, scoring 59 points as a team in both games.

Crain led the Techsters with 15 points against Oklahoma.

Shan Moore added 14 points and Barkus chipped in 10 points.

However, it was not enough to overcome a 14-point halftime deficit, as the Techsters dropped their second consecutive game 86-59.