Texas Tech’s 80-77 victory against Houston in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Thursday marked the first time this season that two freshmen have registered double digit points in a game.

Christine Hyde scored a career-high 16 points and Marissa Ashton racked up 11 – all in the first half – to snap the Lady Raiders’ four-game losing streak and send them to the second round of the tournament at Wyoming.

“It’s like I tell them,” coach Kristy Curry said, “their 2010-11 season started this week. We’ve got to understand that the future is incredibly bright if we make it bright. I’m really proud of them for finding a way to win. That’s something that they all bring, that winning mentality. They expect to win.”

Ashton hasn’t seen as much playing time since Kierra Mallard returned from suspension on Feb. 21. But the 6-foot forward returned to the game with less than eight minutes left in the first half and scored nine points, including a 3-pointer that instigated Tech’s rally.

Hyde scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the second half. She was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line and grabbed seven rebounds.

Since becoming a full-time starter on Feb. 10, Hyde is averaging 7.6 points per game. Her performance Thursday was no surprise to Houston assistant coach Wade Scott, who was filling in for Joe Curl. Curl was hospitalized Thursday because of a recurring heart ailment.

“I watched Christine play when she was in high school,” Scott said. “I knew what she was capable of doing. To her credit she came out here and had a great night. She went to the basket, got fouled, put some of our players on the bench. She did what she normally does.”

Second chances

When Tech returned to practice after its disappointing 59-51 loss to Kansas State at the Big 12 tournament, Curry circled two columns on the box score: points off turnovers and second-chance points.

Those two deficiencies had been at the heart of Tech’s struggles during the final two weeks of the season.

The Lady Raiders out-scored the Cougars 24-7 on second chance points after having failed to even reach double figures in the category in their four previous games, all losses.

Tech’s 24 second-chance points were a season high. The Lady Raiders collected 16 offensive rebounds, four of which came from Jordan Barncastle.

The sophomore forward played her best game since returning from a nasal fracture she suffered after being punched by Brittney Griner on March 3. Barncastle was no longer wearing the mask she needed last week at the Big 12 tournament and scored 12 points with six rebounds, one shy of a season high.

She also made some strong moves to the basket in collecting her three close-range field goals.

Murphree may be out

Senior Jordan Murphree missed her first game of the season Thursday with recurring back pain that has troubled her for the better part of the season.

Curry said there is no timeline on her return to the lineup, and Murphree might have to sit out the next game of the WNIT if the pain hasn’t subsided.

“The last three weeks her back has really bothered her and she’s continued to fight through it,” Curry said. “She’s in a real fix. She’s had a lot of problems the last three weeks. She hasn’t used it as an excuse and neither have we, but you can tell she’s been playing straight up and been pretty stiff.

“It’s something she had trouble with over last season and continued to hamper her at certain times with certain movements. She can’t even bend over and tie her shoe right now.”

Murphree, who averages 12.3 points a game, scored five against Missouri on March 7 and eight points against Kansas State on March 11.

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