BY TRAVIS CRAM
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

BOULDER, Colo. — Texas Tech didn’t have the energy level required to keep up with Kansas State or Baylor in two home losses last week.

Wednesday night at Colorado, the Lady Raiders’ energy level was a mile high.

Tech shot 49 percent from the field and Dominic Seals returned to form, scoring 18 points to help Tech to a 66-60 win at Coors Event Center.

It was a big win for the Lady Raiders, putting them in the No. 6 spot in the Big 12 Conference standings after Wednesday, holding a half-game lead over Texas while staying just a half-game behind Iowa State.

“Anytime you can get one back on the road it’s important,” Tech coach Kristy Curry said. “You have to bat .500 or above, like they say in baseball. It’s that same scenario. You’ve got to take care of business.”

Tech (12-7, 3-3 Big 12) scored its most points on the road, having previously averaged only 55.7 points per game away from United Spirit Arena.

Seals helped Tech stay out in front with two straight jump shots in the paint after Colorado (9-9, 1-5) began fighting back to get within four points of Tech when a 3-pointer by high-scorer Brittany Spears made it 57-53 with 4:13 to go.

Then Jordan Murphree and Seals helped break it back open by hitting key shots from the field and free-throw line, scoring nine of Tech’s final 15 points.

Murphree finished with 13 points.

Tech’s 25-for-51 shooting was its best performance from the field since hitting 25 of 52 (48 percent) against Arkansas on Jan. 3, and 13.1 percent higher than its road average heading into Wednesday night’s matchup. The improved shooting helped the Lady Raiders overcome 15 turnovers and a hot-handed Spears, who had 26 points for the Buffaloes, her highest output in Big 12 play this season.

The Lady Raiders broke a 40-40 tie midway through the first half when Seals’ two free throws wound up leading to seven points for Tech in 45 seconds, with Kierra Mallard and Ashlee Roberson grabbing rebounds and drawing consecutive fouls. The Lady Raiders grabbed their largest lead when Roberson hit a trey to cap a 14-0 run and give Tech a 54-40 advantage with 9:01 to go.

“Just to see Ashlee and Kierra playing like that with all that energy made all the difference in the world for us tonight,” Seals said. “That’s what we’ve been seeing in practice. That is how we all need to keep playing and just keep this up on Saturday against Oklahoma State.”

The Buffs went more than five minutes without a basket while Tech went on the run, going 0-for-5 from the field with three turnovers.

Colorado was plagued with 13 turnovers and had to rely on Spears for most of its points, hitting only four of its last 13 shots from the field. Roberson played a key part in helping to guard Spears, using her length to stay with her on inside shots and when Spears tried to break open around the perimeter.

“I’m not sure if it was just one thing I did that helped,” Roberson said. “I think, more than anything, it was how we all played defense tonight. It was just better, team-wise, than last week.”

Curry gave Roberson a little more credit.

“She understands player tendencies better than anybody we have,” Curry said. “She did a much better job in the second half of making Spears put it on the floor.”

Tech was held without a field goal for almost five minutes while Colorado went on a 12-2 run to open the game, but the Lady Raiders scored on 10 of their next 13 possessions, going on a 19-4 run to take as much as a seven-point lead during the opening 20 minutes.

Murphree seemed to be one of the loudest players on the court and helped cause two CU turnovers during Tech’s run.

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