Lady Raiders can’t solve Bears
BY TRAVIS CRAM
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Texas Tech showed signs of consistency on Saturday in its women’s basketball game against No. 5 Baylor at United Spirit Arena.
The only problem was it was consistency in the wrong direction.
“I think our energy level on a consistent basis is not the level it needs to be,” head coach Kristy Curry said after Tech’s 76-64 loss to Baylor. “We need to have more consistent energy for longer periods of time.
“You certainly can’t come out and have a lack of effort at any point for 40 minutes because they’ll make you pay. … Our energy level has got to be better.”
Baylor (17-1, 5-0 Big 12 Conference) broke open an early close game with an 18-5 run to help put the Lady Bears up 30-15 with less than seven minutes to play in the first half, and then had two similar runs in the second half to keep Tech from getting closer than six points.
The Lady Bears also managed to shut down senior forward Dominic Seals, who had no points in the second half (0 of 3 field goals, 0 of 2 free throws) after scoring 11 points in the first half. Tech had nine turnovers in the final 20 minutes after having only two in the first half.
Although Seals climbed back into double figures after scoring only five points against Kansas State, it’s a funk that has continued to show at times this season. Curry said she has “no idea” what is bothering Seals.
The 6-foot-2 forward has hit only 6 of 27 (22 percent) in the last two games and had a similar drought against New Mexico and Prairie View A&M in December (8 of 27, 30 percent).
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said junior Danielle Wilson, who had 17 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, played a role in Seals’ second-half demise.
“I’d like to tell you it was this great coaching strategy — it wasn’t,” Mulkey said. “… I just thought that Danielle, when she had (Seals), Seals elevates so quick, and Danielle (was able) to block some shots.”
Tech (11-7, 2-3) went without a field goal for more than seven minutes during the majority of the Lady Bears’ 18-5 run in the first half and also had similar droughts in the second half.
It was close to how No. 18 Kansas State pulled away in its 60-48 win Wednesday night, holding the Lady Raiders without a field goal for nine minutes in the second half.
Maddy Brown capped a 20-8 run by Tech with a 3-pointer to end the first half, so the Lady Raiders trailed only 38-35 after the game seemed to be getting away early.
The start of the second half showed a similar scenario as Tech found itself down again, this time by 16 points with 15:10 to play before Maria Moore, who scored a career-high 22 points, helped the squad charge back on a 16-2 run to get within six points.
But Baylor never let up again, outscoring Tech 14-4 to take a 72-56 lead with less than three minutes to play while the Lady Raiders hit only 2 of 7 shots.
“(Baylor) had critical makes at critical times,” Curry said. “You could definitely see their seniors show a level of toughness (Saturday) and making plays down the stretch. The ballgame was lost on our end in the beginning of the first half and second half, and I have no answers for that.”
The loss was Tech’s third in the last four games, with the team shooting a combined 34 percent in the second halves of the three losses.
Curry said the lack of “mental energy” has helped put Tech in its first two-game slide since losing three straight games at the Paradise Jam Tournament in November.
“I’m very disappointed in what we’ve been doing this week,” she said. “If we don’t have better energy and effort than what we had against Baylor and Kansas State, we’ll have a hard time at Colorado. … So we better get shaking with it Wednesday or we’re going to have a long ride home.”
To comment on this story:
travis.cram@lubbockonline.com uE06C 766-8736
jeff.walker@lubbockonline.com uE06C 766-8735
More from this category
- Raiders need wins, especially on road
- Lady Raiders looking for more post production
- Lady Raiders lose 81-51 at Texas
- Lady Raiders look to avenge OT loss to ‘Horns
- Tech’s Mallard suspended
- Tech women can’t capitalize on strong start, lose big
- Lady Raiders try to halt losing streak at No. 22 Iowa State
- Big 12 Extra
More from this author
- Texas Tech women vs. UNLV
- Clovis standout Brown commits to Lady Raiders
- Tech golfers confident heading into regional
- Adversity hasn’t slowed Tech’s push into NCAA Championships
- Lady Raiders struggle on home course
Subscribe to this author
Wow Curry you think??? Glad to see you can see that…Not really doing much about it though are you? It was a decent game, but if Tech uses the excuse that they are almost there and the victories are close they will be the first school I have heard of paying a coach for ” almost ” winning lol This team has become a joke and it’s near sickening to watch them. Obama here is a interogation possibility Make them watch this team play….or would that be considered torture. LOL kidding guys…Maybe they will be better next year this year is over and done.
(Report comment)
Another sunrise, another loss, and I’ve stopped counting. I’m just glad I have other things to do (reading, exercise, listening to music, research, etc.). Of course, I have enough ENERGY to do those things, even though I am 68.
(Report comment)
I’m sure glad my “ENERGY LEVEL” can sustain writing stuff on this site. I mean, without an “ENERGY LEVEL”, how would I ever accomplish anything? Kristy Curry can use “energy level” more times in one sentence than anyone I’ve ever heard of.
(Report comment)
Maybe Gerald can schedule all of the Womens games with Baylor in Dallas too and on Sunday at least the Methodists would show up and bring food!
(Report comment)
The best teams in the country have a high energy, defensive posture for 40 minutes a game. Offense feeds off that good defense.
Texas Tech can’t sustain that level of play except for 20 minutes a game. Same for the Red Raiders men. That is going to get you no respect and very few victories in conference play.
(Report comment)
TECH ABSOLUTELY SUCKS. YOU HAVE QUICKLY GONE FROM A TOP TEIR TEAM TO THE ONE, IF NOT THEE, WORST TEAM IN THE BIG 12. WHAT I LIKE BEST IS HOW THEY KIND OF COMPETE FOR THE FIRST HALF TO GET ALL YOU FOOLS HOPES UP AND THEN………….SHOW THEIR TRUE COLORS AND LOSE!!!!!!
(Report comment)
CURRY IS RIGHT. THE TEAM IS NOT PLAYING WITH ANY ENERGY. SPECIFICALLY, SEALS. SHE SHOULD BE DOMINATING AND SHE IS FAR FROM THAT. CURRY HAS THE ENERGY, IT JUST SEEMS THAT THE TEAM DOES NOT. THEY PLAY WITH NO EMOTION. COME ON LADIES. WHEN THEY PLAY TO THEIR ABILITIES THEY CAN PLAY WITH ANYONE. GIVE CURRY TIME, SHE WILL BRING THIS PROGRAM BACK TO WHERE IT WAS.
I REALLY GET TIRED OF THE FANS. IF YOU ARE A REAL FAN, YOU ARE THERE WHETHER THEY WIN OR LOSE. YOU STAY WITH THEM THROUGH THE ROUGH TIMES. I LOOK AT ALL OF THE EMPTY SEATS IN THE ARENA AND IT HAS TO BE DISHEARTENING TO THE TEAM. ENERGY COMES NOT JUST FROM THE TEAM BUT LOUD FANS IN THE SEATS.
(Report comment)
The term “energy level” is so vague it could mean amything. Maybe they can set up a portable generator courtside.
(Report comment)
Correction for mispelled word. Anything instead of amything. I shouldn’t get in a hurry to write stuff.
(Report comment)
To Lady Raider Fan : I see what you are saying:
1: Let them suck
2: Spend money to see us lose all the time
3: Let the coach who is not doing a good job for nearly 3 years keep being paid by students and donors for letting them suck.
I for one think they have shown flashes of being good. But for 3 years it has been that way. It all gets blamed on “energy”. Please tell me when you stop making excuses and just say your not doing the job you have been hired to do. I’m sorry but she is being paid to apparently take up space on the side of court. Even if they play lights out at the end of every year that is not enough. Where is the carry over from one season to the next with her teams. There is not and thats what most fans are saying. I do support them, but they are not giving much for fans TO support.
(Report comment)
I agree with the above post. Just how much time does Kristy Curry need to make this team a contender? 5 years? 10 years? I think by now we would have seen an improvement as far as intensity and results. Success in the Big 10 doesn’t equate to success in the Big 12. And that’s not just for women’s basketball, but for most of the other sports too. There is no one who wants the Lady Raiders to suceed more than I do, but there doesn’t seem to be any measurable progress in the program now.
(Report comment)
Hey lady raider fans, let’s look at the athletic programs. Bubba says the lady raiders suck, and Eric agrees, lets see, the football program has been a failure for as long as I can remember, finally in the last 2 or so years, they won, but no bowl victory. Cannot win the big one, must be that S— word.
Mens basketball, the great Bobby Knight came in, did not do much, his deal was for Pat Knight to be the next coach, both recruited and guess what, they are selected players and guess what, that S— word again, they are pitiful.
Marsha Sharp coached for how many years, how many national championships, one in all of those years, and she walked away from the players on the court now, Marsha Sharp recruits.
Different coaches do different things, they look for that hidden talent that we, as fan, do not know what to look for, but with the right guidance, became great.
Not every team in america is a national champion, not every team in america is a conference champion, not every team in america has a winning season. GIVE THE TEAM A CHANCE, GET OFF OF THE COACHES POSTERIOR….maybe Bubba and Eric are the real sucker here.
(Report comment)
Okay, let’s see. Coach Curry is in her third year. When she took over this program, she was left with very little to build a program on. No athleticism, speed, etc. So, she attempts to build quickly with Jr. college players. By the time she started recruiting most of the really good players had been signed. She left Purdue with the #1 recruiting class in the nation. Now, with the class coming in next year (rated as high as #10 in the nation by some) she is slowly trying to bring this program up to the level that can compete with the Baylors and Oklahomas.
Let’s see now. Coach Leach has been with our program for 9 years now. Has he brought the program to where we want it. No. We still can’t win the “big” ones. So, you ask how many years does it take. I’d say 5 to 7 to fix the problems that Sharp left with this program.
(Report comment)
Again I ask the question, how much time does Curry need to make the team a contender? Kim Mulkey at Baylor and Gary Blair at A&M have made their teams top notched programs in the same amount of time or less that Curry has had at Tech. Baylor even won a national championship. I remember when Seals was first recruited out of high school. Her high school coach said she was going to be a force in the Big 12. I admire Seals and don’t believe for a minute that she has gotten worse rather than better. So, what’s the problem? Maybe it’s the coaching or lack of it.
(Report comment)
How long did Marsha Sharp coach at Tech, 25 years, and how many national championships, ONE, how many final 4 appearances, ONE, and the only reason they did this good was Swoopes, other wise they are stuck in the mud with the other 100 plus NCAA Division 1 teams? And during that time, Texas won a national championship and were in the top tier of womens basketball because of what, quality of coach, quality of players, what? We would go to Austin and beat them, they come her and beat us, and no other team was a challenge…to answer your question on how long it will take, if there were only 100 teams, and each team won a national championship, then if I paid attention in math class, 100 years.
Yes Baylor won the national championship, yes, Tech and Texas has won the national championship, but look at the Big 12, no other team has won it…Oklahoma will be a terrible team when the twins are gone, so everybody will again be equal…do not take me wrong, yeh, winning is everything, losing is not, but at the end of the season, if you have a winning record, then the season is a success, and if you go to the big tournament and lose the first game, you might not feel successful, but you are…3 years is not enough to judge…
(Report comment)
Your right Eric. Nobody can use the excuse that its “Marsha’s ” recruits if they are that bad then just bench them. But that is not what’s happening. Actually her recruits play more than Curry’s ie Murphree and Seals and lately even Tiny. And to Jr. above at least we were in the mix of things when Sharp was here. As for your football comment the program is being built. Yes I know it has taken time to build up prestige so people actually want to come here. Tech girls basketball already had that and she has wasted and diminidhed that prestige.
(Report comment)
diminished..sorry mispelled word
(Report comment)
Dang guys, do you have a tough time reading. I said, 5 to 7 years. Let’s see, KM has been at Baylor 9 years, GB has been at A&M 6 years. KC has been at Tech 3. Can you not give her some time.
And, yes we were in the mix for a while in the Big 12, but not after the young new coaches came in and gave Sharp some competition. After that, she could not compete with only recruiting West Texas talent. Those were the only ones that wanted to come here. Texas was the place that most of them wanted to go. You now have to recruit every where, not just Texas. And Curry definitely has more contacts nationwide than Sharp ever did. Just look at the recruits for next. year One is from Canada, one from Colorado..
As I said in my last post, the recruits that Curry was forced to bring in were all JC players. All of the good HS recruits had all ready committed. So, she was left with attempting to pull from what was left from the JC ranks. Are these the type players that she would normally recruit. No, probably not. She just tried to build the program as quickly as she could with the talent that she was able to bring in..
As for Seals, any coach worth a darn is going to say that their player is the best. Had she made the grades and been at Tech for all 4 years, then she probably would have been a much better player than she is today. Not too many come out of junior college and progress as they should. Go watch a junior college team, they just don’t play up to the D1 schools and thus players are not pushed to become the player that they could be.
Honestly guys. Quit your b____n. Give her the time that she deserves.
(Report comment)