By Travis Cram | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Punxsutawney Phil came out of the ground to check for his shadow Monday.

Texas Tech came out to United Spirit Arena to tune things up against Savannah State before heading down to Austin to continue Big 12 play.

The Lady Raiders left with an 80-39 win Monday night but just like Phil, may be wondering if things will stay cold against teams in the Big 12 Conference.

“Offensively, we continue to work and do some things that we need to do,” Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry said. “I was hoping we could shoot the ball a little bit better from the outside, but that’s something we’ll just continue to work each day in practice. … We’ve got to continue to do a good job outside and getting our feet set and try and shoot a better percentage of threes. If were going to put up 20 threes, we need to do a better job.”

The Lady Raiders were a little bit better than average with their shots, hitting 44.8 percent, after averaging just 40.8 percent heading into Monday night. The Lady Raiders have not hit more than 50 percent of their shots in a game since a 57.9 percent showing Dec. 20 against Sacramento State.

They did, however, take a lot more looks from the 3-point arc (5 of 20). It was the second-straight game Tech attempted 20 or more 3-pointers. Tech had not attempted more than 16 since a loss to No. 3 California in the Paradise Jam Tournament.

The Lady Raiders shut down Savannah State, as they were probably expected to, holding the Lady Tigers to 29.2 percent shooting and committing only 11 turnovers to the Lady Tigers’ 26.

Freshman Kierra Mallard and senior Dominic Seals did what they should do against an undersized, under-talented team by scoring 23 and 15 points, respectively, but did nothing out of the ordinary when it came to their shot-making and decisions.

They helped Tech open up the game with a 31-8 lead, scoring 23 of the points.

Mallard got a career-high in points and her fourth double-double of the season by adding 13 rebounds, while Seals played for only 17 minutes.

Mallard said she was able to use Monday night to correct some things from the last couple of weeks.

“I just need to take my time,” she said. “Look to see if my teammates are open. … And just sprint more up and down the court.”

Mallard showed a little more versatility by going outside along the baseline to hit jump shots from around 12 feet, but stayed mostly around the paint to hit turnaround shots and layups.

Like some of the other non-conference games this season, Curry had goals for the team, even after Tech went into the locker room up 46-23 at halftime.

“The goal coming in was to hold them under 40 (points),” she said. “Just make sure defensively we had a lot of energy and fortunately we were able to do that and still play a lot of folks.”

Getting key minutes for some players like LaVonda Henderson, Keisha Walker and especially Jordan Barncastle could help down the road should they be needed in conference games.

Barncastle got her most points (13) since scoring 12 against Sacramento State.

Curry emphasized trying to find that energy from her team during the game and what is expected with the team’s rematch Sunday with No. 16 Texas, who beat No. 8 Baylor in Waco on Sunday, 58-55.

“Everybody has got to do their part,” Curry said. “… What has happened to us in January, we have to learn from and find a way to be better in February. Make sure we get five wins or better in February. That should be our goal.”

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LADY RAIDERS/Team gets a breather in the middle

of the Big 12 schedule

Texas Tech 80, Savannah State 39

SAVANNAH STATE 39

FG FT REB

Min. M-A M-A O T PF A TP

Nelson 31 1-5 0-0 4 7 4 0 2

M. Johnson 31 1-5 0-0 0 2 4 0 3

Long 13 0-0 0-2 1 2 0 0 0

Jackson 26 1-4 2-2 0 1 2 0 4

Smith 33 3-9 6-10 1 9 1 2 12

Barley 5 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 3

Stamps 18 0-3 0-0 1 3 1 2 0

Fields 31 6-20 1-4 2 4 3 2 13

C. Johnson 9 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 2

Lard 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Monroe 2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0

1 2 Totals 200 14-48 9-18 10 33 16 6 39

TEXAS TECH 80

FG FT REB

Min. M-A M-A O T PF A TP

Roberson 25 1-8 1-3 5 7 1 1 4

Seals 17 7-13 1-2 4 7 1 2 15

Mallard 28 8-14 7-7 3 13 4 1 23

Murphree 15 1-6 0-0 0 1 2 3 2

Henderson 14 2-3 0-0 4 6 1 4 4

Barncastle 25 5-8 2-2 1 3 2 0 13

Walker 11 2-5 0-0 0 1 2 1 5

Moore 15 1-3 1-2 0 2 0 3 3

Martin 21 2-3 3-5 0 1 0 3 8

Brown 22 1-5 0-0 0 1 1 2 3

Rumph 7 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 0

0 1 Totals 200 30-67 15-21 17 44 14 20 80

Savannah State 23 16 – 39

Texas Tech 46 34 – 80

Records: Savannah State 4-18; Texas Tech 13-8. Shooting percentages: Savannah State 29.2% FG, 33.3% 3-pt. FG, 50% FT; Tech 44.8% FG, 25% 3-pt. FG, 71.4% FT. 3-point goals: Savannah State 2-6 (M. Johnson 1-2, Barley 1-1, Stamps 0-1, Fields 0-2); Tech 5-20 (Roberson 1-5, Mallard 0-1, Murphree 0-3, Barncastle 1-1, Walker 1-2, Moore 0-1, Martin 1-2, Brown 1-5). Steals: Savannah State 6 (Fields 3, Smith, Barley, Stamps); Tech 19 (Roberson 4, Seals 4, Murphree 2, Henderson 2, Martin 2, Mallard, Walker, Moore, Brown, Rumph). Blocked shots: Savannah State 2 (Nelson, Fields); Tech 4 (Mallard 3, Barncastle). Turnovers: Savannah State 26, Tech 11. Total fouls: Savannah State 16, Tech 14. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None. Officials: Jeff Caudle, Peter Contreras, Bill Larance. Attendance: 7,812.