Texas Tech coach Kristy Curry wasn’t shy about calling her three seniors out after Sunday’s 58-55 overtime loss to last-place Missouri in the team’s regular season finale.

The defeat was the third in a row for the Lady Raiders, who didn’t get the kind of performances from Ashlee
Roberson and Jordan Murphree that helped earn them honorable mentions on the all-Big 12 team Monday.

Eighth-seeded Tech will face ninth-seeded Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament at 11 a.m. today, and one can only wonder which Lady Raiders team will show up — the one that took four of five to get back into the NCAA tournament hunt, or the one that lost its final three games of the season to fall back out.

When Tech defeated Kansas State 75-67 in overtime back on Feb. 24 at Bramlage Coliseum, Roberson and Murphree showed just how capable they are of leading the young Lady Raiders.

The senior duo combined for 40 points, and Murphree scored 10 in overtime alone to propel Tech to that critical Big 12 Conference road victory.

Now the pair will try to recapture the momentum Tech carried only two weeks ago.

“You don’t really feel OK after that (loss) but you bounce back,” Murphree said Monday of the loss to Missouri. “We still have a chance and we got to think that. We can’t get down on ourselves.”

The Lady Raiders (17-13, 5-11 in Big 12) do still have a chance of reaching their first NCAA tournament since 2005, but it might come down to beating top-seeded and undefeated Nebraska in the second round Friday.
The Cornhuskers beat Tech 89-47 back on Jan. 27.

Murphree and Roberson were the only two Tech players in double figures when the Lady Raiders faced Kansas State (13-17, 5-11) previously. KSU meanwhile, had four in double figures, and that group did not include senior Ashley Sweat. The team’s leading scorer mustered only eight points — half of her average.

Curry and the Lady Raiders seemed in agreement, though, that they won the game even though they didn’t play their best basketball.

But it was still much better than what happened against Missouri, and neither Roberson nor Murphree made any excuses.

“There was no energy, no effort, obviously,” Roberson said. “We didn’t really shoot the ball well.
“There are three seniors on the team and seven freshmen. You have nobody else to lead them, and that’s what we have to do. I think that it’s time for us to step up and do what we need to do.”

Curry lamented how many missed easy shots cost the Lady Raiders big in the loss at Missouri. Tech was shooting under 30 percent midway through the second half.

Missed shots, though, might have been the least of Tech’s concerns. Freshman guard Monique Smalls said the team just didn’t have its mind in the right place with so much on the line.

“I think we kind of took off a couple plays,” Smalls said, “We weren’t mentally there. I think we’re more focused now and we’re focusing on our layups and finishing.”

Sophomore forward Jordan Barncastle participated in practice with the team in Kansas City on Wednesday. Barncastle missed Sunday’s game because of injuries suffered after being punched in the face by Brittney Griner on March 3. There is still no official word on whether she will return to the lineup.

ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme said Tech needed to win any of its last three games of the season to remain in his NCAA tournament bracket. And despite the losses, Tech still has a chance to get in.

After today, though, there are no more second chances.

To comment on this story:
david.just@lubbockonline.com l 766-8736
courtney.linehan@lubbockonline.com l 766-8735