By Travis Cram l Lubbock Avalanche Journal
Texas Tech discovered its defense over the last three games while the team was in the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam.

Tuesday night, the team rediscovered its offense and got a boost from Jordan Murphree, who had been sidelined since the opening game against Idaho with a back injury.

Texas Tech's Jordan Murphree (13) steals the ball from UNLV's Raquel Jupiter (25) on her way to scoring during their game Tuesday at United Spirit arena.

Murphree played 20 minutes in her first game back, scoring 12 points, and Maria Moore set a career high with 18 points to help Tech beat Nevada-Las Vegas, 75-63, and snap a three-game losing streak.

Tech head coach Kristy Curry said having Murphree back helps the team be more settled when things get hectic on the court.

“She seems to give us a calmness at times when we really need it,” Curry said. “She’s just very strong with the ball. We’re going to need her to just continue to be who she is and hopefully stay healthy.”

Murphree entered the game for a brief moment early on but then came back with less than 10 minutes to go in the first half and Tech up by only four. UNLV had just finished a 7-2 run to cut the lead.

Murphree got her second steal and drove back down court for a layup while drawing a foul. She hit the free throw and then got another steal on the ensuing play for another layup, pushing Tech’s lead back to 18-9 with 7:22 to go.

But UNLV (4-2) answered again, this time with two 3-point goals by Shannon Oberg to cut the Lady Raiders’ lead back to 22-19 with 4:22 remaining.

Then Ashlee Roberson stepped in to score eight quick points.

Roberson hit a 3-pointer, a jumper after another Murphree steal and a second 3 to help lead Tech on a 15-6 run that was good for a 37-25 lead at halftime.

“She’s very tenacious on both ends of the floor,” Curry said. “She brings an edge for us. … When we were coming back on the plane from the Virgin Islands, she said, ‘Coach, can you please flip every shot that I shot in the Virgin Islands?’

“That’s how much she cares about getting her shot right and doing things for our team to make them better. And she had some big shots for us tonight.”

Roberson finished with 12 points, 3 of 5 from behind the 3-point line.

Tech (5-3) improved its field-goal shooting once again, hitting nearly 44 percent of its shots while scoring 40 points in the paint.

Dominic Seals led the way for Tech’s forwards, getting her third double-double of the season and eighth-straight game in double figures with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lady Raiders showed their defensive prowess in the win, turning 27 turnovers — including 13 steals — into 28 points.

“They play hard, and that’s Kristy Curry for you,” said UNLV coach Kathy Olivier, whose UCLA team faced Curry in her first year at Tech in 2006. “… I just think they got after it defensively and that was the difference. They just caused more turnovers than we did.”

Moore took over in the second half, getting 12 of her 18 points in the final 20 minutes to keep up with the Rebels’ Shamela Hampton. Hampton scored all 14 points in the second half on her way to a double-double with 12 rebounds.

Curry said Moore’s improvement says a lot about how this team is progressing with each game, which becomes important with waiting for 11 days until the team’s next game in Albuquerque, N.M., against New Mexico.

“I thought she did a nice job of getting her feet set and going up strong and really making good decisions,” Curry said. “I thought the shot-selection decisions by her tonight were really good. When you make good decisions, good things will happen.”

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