By LUKE DEROUEN

Sports Writer

Tech's seniors Amisha Carter, Trina Frierson and Amber Obaze dominated on "Senior Night" at the Thomas Assembly Center Saturday, leading the sixth-ranked Lady Techsters to an 82-51 victory over the San Jose State Lady Spartans.

Carter and Frierson each scored 20 points, while Obaze added 11 and the Techsters (19-2, 12-1 WAC) won their 11th straight Western Athletic Conference game.

"I obviously was happy that on senior night all three seniors scored in double figures," head coach Kurt Budke said.

"People have to understand that they only have two more chances to come watch these three young ladies play."

The suffocating Techster defense shined again, forcing 30 turnovers and holding the Lady Spartans (13-8, 5-7 WAC) to 26.6 percent shooting from the field.

Budke attributed San Jose's shooting woes to the pressure Tech put on the Lady Spartans' leading scorer, Cricket Williams.

"Tasha (Crain) and Amber did a great job of pressuring her," Budke said. "We wanted to make her go through five people, and we stuck to the game plan. It was a team effort."

Joining the seniors with a standout performance was Erica Smith-Taylor, who recorded 12 points, six rebounds, six steals and six assists.

The Techsters began the week by defeating Hawaii (5-16, 3-9 WAC) by a score of 83-45 in front of 3,629 at the TAC Feb. 12.

An early full-court press stunned the Rainbow Wahine, enabling the Techsters to jump out to a 12-0 lead five minutes into the game and placing the defense on track to force 29 turnovers.

With the aggressive defense leading to easy buckets, the Techsters had their way with Hawaii, leading 45-17 at halftime.

"We knew how much of their offense comes off of their defense," Hawaii head coach Vince Goo said. "And that is exactly what happened tonight. People look at the points they score and how good they are offensively, but the key to Tech is their defense.

"When a team plays good defense like that, it means they have real dedicated players and real good coaching. They have impressed me for a long time now."

It was dŽjˆ vu for Hawaii when the Techsters bolted to an 11-0 run to begin the second half.

Both early runs helped the Techsters shoot 53 percent from the field, the first time a team has shot better than 50 percent against Hawaii all season.

Obaze led the Techsters with 17 points, while Carter added 15 points and eight rebounds, both in limited minutes due to the blowout.

The two victories help the Techsters build momentum into a rematch with Rice and eventually the WAC and NCAA tournaments.

The Owls upset the Techsters on Jan. 5 in Houston and seem to be Tech's only speed bump left before their third-straight WAC championship run begins.

The Techsters will have an opportunity for revenge over the Owls March 4 when Rice visits the TAC, and the Techsters are ready.

But not looking too far ahead, the Techsters hit the road for three straight conference games before their showdown in Ruston. Tech visits Southern Methodist University Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by the University of Texas-El Paso Feb. 26, Boise State Feb. 28 and ends the season at Tulsa March 6.