By Luke DeRouen

Sports Writer

Erica Smith-Taylor made sure the Lady Techsters treated their West Coast road trip like a job, rather than a vacation. Ê

Smith-Taylor recorded the first two double-doubles of her career during the two-game road trip at San Jose State and Hawaii, leading the No. 12 Techsters to their third and fourth straight Western Athletic Conference victories.

In Hawaii, the Techsters enjoyed a comfortable 25-7 lead with 6:32 remaining in the first half, only to see Hawaii score nine consecutive points, cutting the lead to nine at 25-16.

The Techsters quickly regained control, thanks to a 12 point first-half effort by Amber Obaze, who led her team into the locker room at halftime with a 33-21 lead over the Wahine.

As usual, the Techster defense stole the show in the first half forcing Hawaii to turn the ball over 13 times.

"I thought we caused their guards a lot of problems in the first half," Tech head coach Kurt Budke said. Ê"We got out in the passing lanes and really made it difficult for (Hawaii) to run (its) offensive sets."

The Techsters continued their pressure on both sides of the ball in the second half, finishing with a 67-50 win.

Obaze led the Techsters with a career-high 23 points, while Smith-Taylor recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds for her second double-double in as many games.

The Techsters saw five scorers land in double figures last Thursday against San Jose State, led by Trina Frierson's 19 points and Smith-Taylor's 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Lakiste Barkus, Amisha Carter and Obaze were the others in double figures, helping the Techsters dispose of San Jose State 84-71.

Carter finished with 12 points and 11 boards for her seventh career double-double.

After some poor shooting in the first half, the Techsters improved to 57 percent shooting in the second half against a team that was ranked No. 8 in the country in field goal percentage defense coming into the contest, and they also knocked down 19 free throws against the Lady Spartans.

The Techsters will continue their freshly built WAC winning streak Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the Southern Methodist University Mustangs at the Thomas Assembly Center.