It was revenge the Lady Raiders wanted on Saturday, and revenge is exactly what they got.
In a 65-55 victory against New Mexico at United Spirit Arena, the Texas Tech women’s basketball team showed just how balanced and aggressive it could be.

Texas Tech's Kierra Mallard, center, and Mary Bokenkamp, right, dive to the floor and steal the ball from New Mexico's Valerie Kast during the first half of their game at United Spirit Arena, Saturday, December 5, 2009. Texas Tech defeated New Mexico 65-55. (Geoffrey McAllister/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

Texas Tech's Kierra Mallard, center, and Mary Bokenkamp, right, dive to the floor and steal the ball from New Mexico's Valerie Kast during the first half of their game at United Spirit Arena, Saturday, December 5, 2009. Texas Tech defeated New Mexico 65-55. (Geoffrey McAllister/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

Instead of shooting 17 percent in the first half as they did a year ago in a 63-54 loss to the Lobos in Albuquerque, N.M., the Lady Raiders were 9-of-12 from the floor through the game’s first 10 minutes.

As satisfying as a sixth consecutive win was for Tech, to have done it against rival New Mexico only made it that much sweeter.

“It’s payback,” senior forward Ashlee Roberson said. “From last year to this year, I think we’re more aggressive this year and our shots were falling. We hit some big shots.”

Roberson was one of the team’s three seniors who stepped up Saturday, picking up her second straight double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Murphree scored a game-high 20 points, surpassing her season best of 15, and fellow senior Tilmila Martin scored seven of her nine points in the first half.
The trio of seniors took the load off sophomore Kierra Mallard, who entered the game averaging a team-best 16.1 points. She was held to six points before fouling out late in the second half.

“I think that it started with the three of them coming out and being aggressive early,” Tech head coach Kristy Curry said of the seniors. “We feel like we can gain some confidence today.
“When we get to March I think we’ll be really happy about this win. It’s going to be a really good, quality win for us.”

Mary Bokenkamp gave the Lady Raiders (7-1) some life off the bench, sinking three 3-pointers. Those three field goals alone tied the nine points the entire bench scored in Wednesday’s 75-71 win against Texas State.

And as strong as the Lady Raider offense looked, the defense held its ground, too.
New Mexico (5-3) leading scorer Amy Beggin was held to just seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Tech didn’t force quite as many turnovers as it had in games prior, but the Lady Raiders made up for it with a combination of full-court pressure and limiting open looks.

“My goal on defense is no second chance points,” said Roberson, who snared seven defensive rebounds and blocked three shots.

“Defensively, I thought it was an outstanding effort,” Curry added. “When you hold (Lauren) Taylor, Sara (Halasz) and Beggin to 21, you’re doing something right. Once Amy gave it up we tried to not let her get it back.”

Despite turning the ball over more than the Lobos did, the Lady Raiders played a much more fundamentally sound game than they had in previous wins. A 16-for-22 effort (72.7 percent) from the free-throw line was a good start.

Additionally, the Lobos never scored on a fast break and managed just 15 points off Tech’s 16 turnovers.

New Mexico coach Don Flanagan took notice of Tech’s improved fundamentals.

“I watched them play on tape and many, many times they miss layups,” Flanagan said. “They didn’t do that tonight. They’re hard to guard because of their speed and then their shooters. They’re a nice, solid team inside out and defend well.”

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Texas Tech 65 New Mexico 55

TEXAS TECH 65

FG FT REB

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

Roberson 37 5-12 0-0 6 13 4 1 11

Mallard 30 3-7 0-0 0 7 5 2 6

Murphree 28 4-8 11-15 0 7 2 5 20

Martin 32 3-8 3-3 1 1 2 1 9

Smalls 31 2-5 2-4 2 3 2 2 6

Brown 9 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 2

Barncastle 13 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 0 2

Hyde 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Bokenkamp 17 3-5 0-0 1 2 0 1 9

0 2 Totals 200 22-48 16-22 10 36 16 12 65

NEW MEXICO 55

FG FT REB

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

Best 36 6-16 2-2 1 7 5 3 14

Kielpinski 22 3-4 1-2 1 5 2 0 7

Beggin 34 2-9 1-3 1 2 3 3 7

Taylor 22 2-6 0-2 1 3 2 1 6

Halasz 28 3-14 2-2 6 6 2 2 8

Nelson 8 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 0

Jackson 17 0-2 1-2 3 4 1 0 1

Torrance 12 1-2 0-0 1 2 2 0 2

Durbin 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Kast 18 5-9 0-0 3 4 4 2 10

1 2 Totals 200 22-63 7-13 18 36 21 11 55

Texas Tech 29 36 - 65

New Mexico 22 33 - 55

Records: Texas Tech 7-1; New Mexico 5-3. Shooting percentages: Tech 45.8% FG, 29.4% 3-pt. FG, 72.7% FT; New Mexico 34.9% FG, 26.7% 3-pt. FG, 53.8% FT. 3-point goals: Tech 5-17 (Roberson 1, Murphree 1, Bokenkamp 3); New Mexico 4-15 (Beggin 2, Taylor 2). Steals: Tech 5 (Roberson 2, Mallard 1, Murphree 2); New Mexico 4 (Taylor 2, Halasz 1, Nelson 1). Blocked shots: Tech 6 (Robereson 3, Mallard 3); New Mexico 3 (Kast). Turnovers: Tech 16, New Mexico 12. Total fouls: Tech 16, New Mexico 21. Fouled out: Mallard, Best. Technical fouls: None. Officials: Melissa Barlow, Metta Roberts, Ernie Solis. Attendance: 7,304.