The Niners (10-8) continued their road woes on Saturday after losing to Louisiana Tech (10-9) 88-51. They’ve now lost six straight away games with their last road victory against Lehigh on Nov. 25 of last year and are now 1-7 on the road for the season. 

Charlotte started the game off quickly after taking a 17-5 lead early in the first quarter, capped off by two three-pointers from sophomore Mariah Linney. The Niners continued to shoot well until about midway through the second quarter when LA Tech’s defense took over and held Charlotte to 29 percent shooting going 12-41 from the floor. Charlotte also failed to reach the free throw line throughout the game, as they finished 5-7 while LA Tech managed to get to the line 16 more times, shooting 17-23 for the game.

Turnovers also played a huge role in the Niners’ downfall. Charlotte had five in the first quarter and 23 for the game, which led to 30 points off turnovers from LA Tech and helped them to stretch their lead to double digits early in the third quarter. 

Charlotte also had difficulty on the glass throughout the game being out-rebounded 50-32 and specifically on the offensive end, where Charlotte saw LA Tech grab 21 offensive boards leading to 28 second chance points. 

It wasn’t all rough for the 49ers though, as Linney finished the game with 11 points. Jade Phillips led the team with four assists while also totaling five points and seven rebounds. Octavia Jett-Wilson and Jazmin Harris each added 6 points off a combined 6-11 shooting while Laia Raventós and Jada McMillian each scored 5 points for the game. 

Freshman guard Rinnah Green, who finished with two points, spoke about how the team could get better from this point forward. “We need to play with more heart and win it for ourselves. We got disappointed after continuous mistakes and it got out of hand quickly,” said Green. 

Charlotte will look to end its current two game skid and continue their five game home winning streak when they travel back to Halton Arena for a two-game homestead starting against UTSA this Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.