Lady Raiders beat Houston to advance to WNIT second round
Texas Tech showed off its future Thursday night at United Spirit Arena, and in the process picked up an 80-77 victory against Houston in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Playing without senior Jordan Murphree, who was out with an ailing back, the Lady Raiders were sluggish out of the chute. They didn’t hit a field goal through the first seven minutes of the game and trailed 32-16 with six minutes left in the half.
At that point, Tech coach Kristy Curry decided to let her youth play, putting freshmen Monique Smalls,
Chynna Brown, Marissa Ashton and Christine Hyde on the floor with sophomore Jordan Barncastle. In the final six minutes of the half, that lineup went on a 13-5 run to narrow the deficit.
Tech's Christine Hyde, right, steals the ball from Houston's Roxana Button during Thursday's WNIT game. Hyde led the Lady Raiders with 16 points. (Geoffrey McAllister/Avalanche-Journal)
Texas Tech's Christine Hyde, left, and Jordan Barncastle, right, battle for a rebound with Houston's Courtney Taylor during their women's NIT game Thursday at United Spirit Arena. The Lady Raiders won, 80-77. (Geoffrey McAllister/Avalanche-Journal)
Ashton scored six of her 11 points during a three-minute span and sent the Lady Raiders to halftime down by eight.
“I just wanted to win,” said Ashton, adding that it was the best run she’s had this season. “I just wanted to put some points on the board offensively and continue to get better.
“I was just feeling it tonight. I felt like I could make it.”
Curry stuck with that young lineup to open the second half, and the momentum stayed with Tech. The first eight minutes of the half belonged to the Lady Raiders, who took their first lead, 49-48, when Ashlee Roberson sank a layup at the 12:13 mark. Tech lost the lead briefly two possessions later, but never trailed again.
“This was an invaluable experience for us,” Curry said afterward. “We fight through so much adversity. There’s no way you can teach to fight through adversity if you don’t have some success at the end of it.”
The Lady Raiders will next face the winner of the Wyoming-Nevada game, which is scheduled to be played at 8 p.m. CT today. The location and date for the second-round game have not yet been determined.
Tech roared to a nine-point lead after Hyde sank two free throws to cap a 15-2 run. Hyde finished with a career-high 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half.
Much of that success came from the free-throw line. When Houston’s Brittney Scott scored 13 points in the final 90 seconds to keep the Cougars close, the Lady Raiders had to hit their free throws — something that hasn’t come easy for them all season.
Tech was a 65 percent free-throw shooting team entering the game, but Hyde, Barncastle and Tilmila Martin hit four each in the final minute. The Lady Raiders made 13 consecutive free throws to finish the game.
“It’s great to see their hard work,” Curry said. “We spend a lot of time shooting them and it paid off tonight.”
Roberson sank a layup with 1:25 left in the game that gave the Lady Raiders a 68-64 lead. On Houston’s next possession, Scott drove the lane and collided with Smalls, who was called for a blocking foul.
Roberson, who played only 21 minutes — matching a season low — screamed out a four-letter word guaranteed to land a player a technical foul. It did, and Scott then sank four consecutive free throws to tie the game.
Curry called the foul a “poor decision.” The Lady Raiders didn’t hit any more field goals, but sank the 12 free throws they needed to preserve the win. Roberson finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds.
The Lady Raiders credited their comeback to the noisier-than-usual crowd at the arena. Though the number of fans in attendance — 2,663 — was not significantly more than the Lady Raiders have averaged this season, the fans were seated lower in the arena and the noise was significantly louder on the court.
“The crowd helped a lot,” Hyde said. “You’re always looking for momentum. Coach (Curry) says the best motivation is self motivation, but sometimes it’s always good to have the crowd behind you. Sometimes you need that push.”
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What’s up with Murphree?
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Read the second paragraph
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Very proud of you guys!! Neat decision coach. Cant wait til next season… oh yeah! This season aint over so go kick some but# this season and have some more fun!!!
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Wait til next year.
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Attendance was 2663! That was the number of arms, not bodies! Murphree didn’t play, so what; she’s been a “no-show” more than just tonight. What is this “adversity” Curry keeps bringing up? Does it refer to the lack of talent, having to play in the Big 12 instead of the Southland Conference, or the fact that she’s not much of a coach!
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Hope the Ladies will play another home game in the WNIT. Had to miss this one due to illness-I’ve got heart issues, just like Houston’s coach did this week.
BTW, Monique Smalls is turning into one heckuva player for Tech-and she’s also kinda cute!
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Adversity=3 players on the bench with injuries and one starter with a fractured nose the size of my fist.
Great job by this team. The youth played some good ball and have a bright future if they stay together. Hyde is going to be a star. I hope she stays in Lubbock and is not too homesick.
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Future I saw was a lot of misses from 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet, 4 feet, 5 feet.
No one could make a layup.
Mo Smalls is a battler on defense but I haven’t seen her make a layup or a free throw yet.
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Team leachers suck! Vive le Myers!
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Hey Fire-
If you haven’t seen MO make a lay-up or free throw yet, you obviously haven’t been watching! She may not make the highest percentage on the team but she scored our team’s first several points from the free throw line last night.
Freddie- were you at the game? I was and the attendance was a heckuva a lot better than it had been. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was around 2500.
These underclassmen took awhile to show-up last night, but when they finally woke up they played wonderfully. Yes, they made some mistakes, but a few of them will turn into stars with a little more maturation. The fact that we won this game on the backs of a bunch of freshmen and two sophmores is remarkable.
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good win Lady Raiders, and good luck next round…….. The tension felt here is that many people still want gerald gone, once that happens, you will see a dramatic change in the hostility towards the coaches that gerald hired, even if they are losing.
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“Extend Contracts,” I’m so glad you posted. Reading your remarks demonstrates the comedic tragedy of the continuation of employment and associations with Hance, Myers, Bailey, Scovell, White, Sowell–and the rest of the Fat Rats. Such bitter amusement.
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Seriously this Leach thing needs to stop. I am/was a huge fan of Leach but as fans you have to move on. He is never going to be the coach again so stop bringing everyone else down….Yes I agree Myers needs to resign or be fired but it probably won’t happen for at least a few more years.
GO SUPPORT YOUR TEAMS. Wreck em’ Tech
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Sunshine and lollipops and we are the worst team in the Big 12.
Smiley face.
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Great win by the younger Lady Raiders. Keep it up. Valuable learning time out there right now. Murphree scored about two fewer points as I thought she would score in the Houston game.
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Nice win, Lady Raiders! Keep it rolling and beat Wyoming/Nevada.
Wreck ‘em Tech
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For starters, we are NOT the worst team in the Big 12. There were several lower than we were and the so-called powerhouse teams only had a couple of more conference wins than we did. I am so tired of people only seeing the negative parts of our season and totally ignoring the bright future that lies ahead. Our fantastic underclassmen singlehandedly pulled us up and gave us a remarkable win last night. This team is fixing to bust out and really make all the naysayers eat crow!! I for one want front row seats when it happens:) Love this team and our coaches!! GO LADY RAIDERS
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Admire the fight in these young women, they do not give up, hope they continue to win and proud of our softball team also.
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Thank you fortressmom! I’m with you 100%!
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