Murphree

With a lot more seats empty than occupied Friday night, United Spirit Arena was not an intimidating place to be for a visiting team.

The University of San Francisco played as if it was, though.

Texas Tech clobbered USF 69-38 on opening night of the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tourney, the Lady Raiders’ task made easier by the Dons’ 32 turnovers. San Francisco committed turnovers on 10 of its first 11 possessions and 13 of its first 17 trips, enabling Tech to build a 17-2 lead by the middle of the first half.

The outcome was never in doubt from that point on.

Barncastle

Tech (3-1) led 35-17 at halftime, and it could have been more lopsided but the Lady Raiders missed several good looks inside in the game’s early stages. Sophomore forward Jordan Barncastle finished with a career-high 17 points, Jordan Murphree had a season-high 15, and Tilmila Martin matched her season high with 10.

The Lady Raiders’ other games in the three-day tournament are at 8 p.m. today against Texas-Arlington (2-2) and at 2 p.m. Sunday against Prairie View A&M (2-1).

Like Tech, USF (2-3) was beaten in an exhibition game by one of the nation’s top NAIA teams, losing to NAIA No. 2 Vanguard (Calif.) on Nov. 2. USF had won in the past week against Cal State-Fullerton and Utah State, but the Dons didn’t show any winning formula Friday when they were playing the second of eight consecutive games away from home.

Tech took its first 15-point lead at the 11:26 mark of the first half when Martin’s 3-point goal from the top of the key made the score 17-2. Another Martin 3 at 5:28 was good for the first 16-point lead at 24-8.

Murphree kept adding to the advantage. Her putback basket, followed by a defensive rebound and coast-to-coast drive, upped it to 30-11.

Barncastle scored nine points in the first half, including a 3-point play and two free throws on consecutive trips that made it 35-14 at 1:25 before the half.

USF never made a run, and fell 30 points back when Murphree got a steal and a layup that made it 57-27. With seven minutes left, the Dons had 29 turnovers and 28 points. A couple of free throws by Rheina Ale finally got USF to 30 points with six-plus minutes left.

Tech-San Francisco was the second of two games Friday night at the United Spirit Arena. In the opener of the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tourney, Prairie View A&M beat Texas-Arlington 65-58. Prairie View got 20 points from Candice Thomas, 19 points and nine rebounds from Latara Darrett and 12 rebounds from Gaati Werema.

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BASKETBALL TRAVELERS TIP-OFF TOURNEY
at United Spirit Arena
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M 65, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 58
PRAIRIE VIEW — Jones 1-3 2-4 4, Darrett 7-16 4-4 19, Werema 2-11 0-0 4, Thomas 6-16 7-9 20, Larsen 4-5 0-0 10, Smith 1-7 0- 2, Banks 2-5 0-0 4, Robinson 1-2 -0 2, Henry 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 24-65 13-19 65.
TEXAS-ARLINGTON — Dike 1-3 1-1 3, Martin 7-16 2-3 20, Shofner 1-99 0-0 2, Nelson 4-10 3-4 11, Simmons 2-8 0-0 5, DeNure 0-1 0-0 0, Paskell 1-2 0-0 2, Parker 2-7 0-0 5, Terral 0-3 0-0 0, Duffey 1-4 0-0 2, Mergerson 2-6 4-5 8. Totals 21-69 10-13 58.
Halftime score: Tied at 30. 3-point goals: Prairie View 4-11 (Larsen 2-3, Darrett 1-3, Thomas 1-3, Smith 0-2), UTA 6-22 (Martin 4-7, Parker 1-1, Simmons 1-7, DeNure 0-1, Paskell 0-1, Mergerson 0-1, Shofner 0-2, Duffey 0-2). Total fouls: Prairie View 16, UTA 15. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Prairie View 39 (Werema 12), UTA 55 (Martin 14). Assists: Prairie View 9 (Henry 3), UTA 10 (Shofner 4). Steals: Prairie View 12 (Werema 2, Thomas 2, Larsen 2, Henry 2), UTA 7 (Shofner 2). Turnovers: Prairie View 16 (Larsen 4), UTA 25 (Nelson 6). Blocked shots: Prairie View 5 (Darrett 2, Thomas 2), UTA 3 (Mergerson 2). Records: Prairie View 2-1, UTA 2-2.