BY TRAVIS CRAM l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Who says Déjà vu doesn’t ever happen.

There it was again on Saturday, as if Texas Tech fans had never left that chilly night on Nov. 1 at Jones AT&T Stadium.

Tech up by 13 points against Texas and yet it still comes down to a last-second play.

Although Dominic Seals’ bucket and Jordan Murphree’s drawn foul may not have been as dramatic as Mike Crabtree’s 28-yard touchdown, it was another win for Tech over Texas.

But what is it about beating Texas that makes a win this early in Big 12 play so exciting for the Lady Raiders?

Texas Tech's Tilmila Martin (14) drives the ball down the court to make a shot against Texas' Brittainey Raven (10) during their game Saturday at United Spirit Arena. Tech defeated Texas 65-62. (Merissa Ferguson/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

“In any sport, as coaches, I think we all see every opponent is just as important,” said Tech head coach Kristy Curry, who is 3-3 against the Longhorns. “But there’s no question that everyone in (Lubbock) gets a little more fired up (when Texas comes to town). I got a lot of text messages and folks get a little bit more fired up about this game.”

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Tech (10-4, 1-0 Big 12) found a way to hang onto its first win in a Big 12 opener under Curry and handed No. 8 Texas its third-straight road loss in front of one of the rowdiest crowds at United Spirit Arena this season.

“It’s a great environment for women’s basketball,” said Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors, now 0-2 at United Spirit Arena. “I think the crowd did a great job supporting their team. I love this environment and I love coming here. I feel like this is the way women’s basketball should be. … That’s an environment I want to play in whether its home or away.”

But it seems to follow suit in every sport with Tech.

Before the upset of then-No. 1 Texas during the football season, no one in Lubbock will forget the waiting line for the student section that quickly became a tent city known as “Raiderville.”

The overwhelming fan support was enough to convince Tech football coach Mike Leach to come out and feed the more than 1,000 students.

But this outcome isn’t new to the Lady Raiders.

Curry has won all three meetings against the Lady Longhorns in Lubbock, losing twice in Austin and once in last season’s Big 12 Championship tournament. But splitting the Tech-UT series has been a common thread over the last 10 years.

Since the 1998-99 season, Tech has swept the series only twice (2005-06 and 1999-2000) while Texas has done it once (2002-03).

Including Saturday’s win, the Lady Raiders are 11-2 at home against the Longhorns and 4-8 in Austin since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. In fact, no team has a better record than Tech at home or overall in Big 12 play.

The Lady Raiders are 129-64 overall in conference play with a 77-19 mark at home.

But Curry and others in the Big 12 know what this season will be like and defending home court to any opponent becomes just as important as Texas.

More importantly, Curry would like to improve her Big 12 road record (3-13) beginning with No. 3 Texas A&M on Tuesday in College Station.

“It’s the same thing with Texas A&M and Baylor and Oklahoma,” she said. “That’s the thing that’s so special about this league. Night-in and night-out, if you want to coach or play, there’s no better league in the country.”

travis.cram@lubbockonline.com – 766-8736
jeff.walker@lubbockonline.com – 766-8735