The Lady Raiders were down 32-16 with 6:12 left in the first half when coach Kristy Curry decided to let her freshmen and sophomores run the court. Using a lineup of Chynna Brown, Christine Hyde, Monique Smalls, Marissa Ashton and Jordan Barncastle, Tech went on a 13-5 run to close out the half.

Curry stuck with that lineup to open the second half and it continued to produce. Eight minutes into the second half, Ashlee Roberson sunk a layup that gave Tech a 49-48 lead — the team’s first of the game.

The momentum stayed with the Lady Raiders, who led by as much as nine. But Houston still had some fight left. Brittney Scott scored 13 points in the final 1:17 to keep the Cougars down only a possession.

Tech had trouble hitting free throws early, but made its last 13 in a row to keep Houston at bay.

The Lady Raiders will face the winner of Wyoming and Nevada, which will be played tomorrow.

More from the Chronicle:

“A UH official confirmed this morning that Curl experienced discomfort on the team flight to Lubbock and went into the hospital on Wednesday. Assistant coach Wade Scott will run the team while Curl recuperates.

Curl, 55, went into a Dallas hospital on Feb. 13, and doctors subsequently diagnosed him as having congestive heart failure. He returned to Houston the next week and underwent surgery to upgrade his pacemaker and install an internal defibrillator.

After a five-game absence, Curl returned to coach the Cougars in the regular-season finale against Rice and the Conference USA tournament. Curl suffered a heart attack in the fall of 2007 and sat out the subsequent season.”

Tech coach Kristy Curry worked for Curl as an assistant at Stephen F. Austin during the 1993-94 season. The two have remained friends off the court.

Tech got a big boost early in the first half, when Seton Hall’s Herb Pope was ejected. Pope was called for an intentional foul after punching Darko Cohadarevic in the groin.

Tech then went on a 13-0 run, building a lead Seton Hall could not overcome.

Point guard John Roberson led Tech with 22 points. Mike Singletary had 13, and Cohadarevic and D’walyn Roberts added 12 each.

Seton Hall got 23 points from forward Jeff Robinson.

Tech (18-15) will face the winner of Arizona State-Jacksonville in the NIT second round later this week.

She didn’t have much to say on the subject, but coach Kim Mulkey did. Here’s the highlights of the press conference: (For the full presser, click here.

Q. Brittney, it had to be nice to get back on the floor. How much did you just miss being out there with your teammates?
BRITTNEY GRINER: You know, I missed being out there with my team. It felt good to be back and playing with everybody.

Q. Brittney, it looked like during introductions because I was sitting across from you that you took a deep breath and just ran out for your introduction, were you getting out and seeing what the reaction was going to be? Were you nervous at all, or how did you feel at that point?
BRITTNEY GRINER: I don’t remember taking a deep breath before I ran out. I don’t remember that.

Q. Brittney perhaps you didn’t hear, but there were a small smattering of boo’s when you were introduced, did you hear that? What do you think of it?
BRITTNEY GRINER: I just drown it out, all I heard was cheers.
COACH MULKEY: Make sure you ask me that question.

Q. Brittney, what did you learn from the suspension and the whole incident?
COACH MULKEY: She learned she misses her team. She misses playing the game.

Q. Coach, did you hear the smattering of boos? What did you think?
COACH MULKEY: I did. I was disappointed. It’s a teenager that made a mistake, and she’s good for the women’s game, and she’s human.

Q. And everything that happened.
COACH MULKEY: Let me make it clear again there is no value in that in women’s basketball. It was horrible. It was horrendous. It was not anything that any of us are proud of. It’s not anything Brittney is proud of.

Q. (No microphone.)
COACH MULKEY: I think in life all of you need to look in the mirror. We all need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves have we made some
really bad decisions? I bet we all have. I view things, Michelle, a little like you wrote in your article. I’m a mother, and when I go into that home and recruit that kid and I look at her parents in the eyes and they say “I want that kid to play for you because you run a disciplined program” that came out of Brittney Griner’s father’s mouth, and he
expects, when she fails, for me to discipline her and not throw her on the street. I would think if I coached your daughter you would want that, too. And Brittney Griner will learn from this, and if she doesn’t, Brittney Griner will eliminate herself about we all fail in life, and she is the sweetest child in a 6′ 8″ body that has been — I’ve been doing this since 14 years of age and I’ve played at all levels of basketball and I’ve
played with some of the greatest players, and I’ve never been around a more gentle giant than Brittney Griner. All I ask is that you judge Brittney Griner before the incident and you judge her after the incident. What made her so bad is it was done in a public forum and you remembered this. There is not a coach in America that has not had to discipline a kid for taking a swing at a teammate in private that none of you ever knew about, not on the men’s side, not on the women’s side. It’s not something any of us are proud, but you remember those of you who don’t have children, don’t judge kids. Don’t judge ‘em. Let them clean up their mess with help from adults, and if they don’t clean it up, then they eliminate themselves. It was, again, a horrible, horrible thing, and she hurts because of it.

The result? A lot of people with a lot of very amateur looking blogs think the Red Raiders will be in. Their seed, however, is up for debate.

The official place to find information on the NIT tournament is NIT.org, but that means little to me, because they don’t have a bracketologist. I’ll be back on that site come Sunday, but for now it does me no good.

The second most reliable source I found was this blog, which if nothing else is at least associated with CBSsports.com, a reputable news organization. Jason, of Jason’s College Sports Blog, considers Tech on the bubble. Thanks, Jason, for that rousing revelation.

Moving on. I was intrigued to find nitology.com, which at least is dedicated specifically to the NIT. It has Tech as a 5-seed facing William & Mary in the first round (The pairings can be found here.

For another opinion I referenced The Bracket Project, a simply designed Web site that I can appreciate for its ease of use. This site has Tech as a 6-seed, playing UAB in the opening round.

My opinion? I don’t know enough about the rest of the field to really have an opinion. I think there’s a long way between the success of some of the predictors’ top seeds and what Tech accomplished, but I do believe the Raiders could have a good run in the NIT.

Whether they get the chance will be determined on Sunday.

If Tech had won any one of its last three games, he would have had a place for the Lady Raiders in his bracket. Without a win, though, the Lady Raiders became his first team out of the tournament.

“If they had won their last game, if they hadn’t lost that game to Missouri, they’d probably be in the field right now,” Creme said. “They’re the first team out. That’s how soft the bubble is.”

But, Tech can still get back in if the stars align, he said. First, the Lady Raiders need to win AT LEAST their game against Kansas State on Thursday. All bets are off, he said, if Tech can’t beat the Wildcats again. If Tech can manage to beat Nebraska in the second round, then they’d find a way back into his bracket.

But there are two other conferences which may determine whether there is room for Tech. TCU is the team to beat in the Mountain West, and the Horned Frogs are already a tournament team regardless of the outcome at their tournament. So, if TCU goes in and wins the Mountain West tournament, it would shut out any other Mountain West team. Also keep an eye on the Colonial Conference, where James Madison is the only likely at-large team. If JMU wins the Colonial tournament, that shuts out a second team from the conference.

“If they were to beat Nebraska, certainly that would elevate them beyond where they’re currently sitting,” Creme said of Tech. “If they were to just win that game (against KSU) I still think they could get in with TCU winning the Mountain West and James Madison winning the Colonial.”

So, Tech fans, there’s still a whole lot to hope for tomorrow in Kansas City.

I’ll be the first to say that there is still plenty that she has to learn and develop before she becomes an all-star in the league, particularly with her offensive mindset and scoring ability.

I think that she’s the type of player, though, that you really need to see to appreciate. She doesn’t rack up points or accrue stats the way casual fans would need her to in order to take notice.

Here is who did make the team: Brittney Griner, BU; Anna Prins, ISU; Carolyn Davis, KU; Lindsey Moore, NU; and Cokie Reed, UT.

“Not to take away from anybody that was, but I was definitely surprised,” coach Kristy Curry said of Smalls’ absence. “I felt like she deserved that honor, but we can’t vote for our own. If I could have I definitely would have.

“I think a lot of times when coaches go and vote they look at points scored. I think you have to measure her value, her worth, in so many more little things. How important it is for us to have the ball in her hands, her assist-to-turnover ratio. I definitely know that all Mo really cares about is her team winning, and that’s probably another reason why I’d give her my vote.”

To see the rest of the Big 12 Conference awards, here is the link: http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=204903887

There is no word yet on whether she is starting or will play at all, but it’s good to see her on the court again.

Tech will tipoff against last-place Missouri at 1 p.m.

Barncastle suffered a nasal fracture after being punched by Baylor’s Brittney Griner in Wednesday’s game at United Spirit Arena.

She has not been made available to the media since.

“Any time you’re a senior, you want to win and try to get a win,” coach Pat Knight said. “I give him credit. He didn’t quit, he’s hanging in there.”

Okorie, who averaged 10 points per game going into Saturday’s contest, was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line and finished 11-of-16 from the field. He also had five rebounds and two assists for the Raiders.

Okorie wasn’t even a starter when the season began.

“I’m just taking my chances and playing,” Okorie said. “I was more passive earlier in the year, and I’ve been more aggressive, knowing its coming to the end of my season.”

Record first-half scoring by Buffs
Colorado’s 52 points in the first half was the most by any Texas Tech opponent this season. The last time an opponent scored as many? Jan. 24, 2009, when Missouri took a 53-41 halftime lead in Columbia.

“We just came out not focused,” Okorie said. “They were back cutting us the whole game. We were picking up petty fouls, not staying down. It just killed us in the end.”

Tech came back and outscored Colorado 55-48 in the second half.

Rematch pre-determined
Before Tech and Colorado tipped off Saturday, it was already set that the teams will play each other in the
Big 12 Tournament’s opening round.

The only way that wouldn’t have happened would have been if Oklahoma had defeated Texas A&M, which would have made the Sooners the No. 8 team in the league. But the Aggies won 69-54, locking themselves into the No. 4 seed and Oklahoma in at No. 10.

Tech finishes the season at No. 9, while Colorado is No. 8. Their game in the opening round of the tournament will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Series update
Colorado now leads the all-time series against Tech 17-12. The series is now tied in Big 12 games at 8-8.
Colorado hadn’t beaten Tech in four games before winning Saturday.

Colorado’s 15 overall wins and six Big 12 wins is the most it’s had under coach Jeff Bzdelik.

Quote of the game
“We’re tired of losing. That’s the whole attitude in the locker room. We’re just tired of losing. We get down and it’s like, here we go again. That’s what frustrates me. In the second half we outscored them. We played well in the second half. But when you’re down 18 in the first half, it’s hard to overcome that kind of stuff.”
— Texas Tech forward Mike Singletary

Compiled by Courtney Linehan

Per NCAA rules, Griner is automatically suspended for Baylor’s next game — against Texas in Waco — and Kim Mulkey has added one additional game to the suspension, which will be served when Baylor plays its first game of the Big 12 Tournament on either March 11 or 12.

Here’s Griner’s apology, from the Baylor athletics site:

“I’d like to apologize to Jordan for my actions during last night’s game,” Griner said. “I also owe an apology to the Lady Raider team, my teammates and coaches, the fans and the game of women’s basketball. I let my emotions get the best of me and I am deeply sorry for my actions. I am committed to doing a better job of maintaining my composure in the future. I will grow from this and I am dedicated to setting an example to others of how to learn from personal mistakes.”

And here’s Kim Mulkey’s comments about the additional suspension and the events that occurred Wednesday, again, from Baylor’s athletics site.

“I am very disappointed in the incident which happened during our basketball game last night at Texas Tech,” Mulkey said. “There is no place for those types of actions in sports. I do not condone that type (of) behavior in my program and have dealt with it accordingly. Also, the rules of the game are clear that coaches and players are not allowed to leave the bench area in these situations.

“I don’t believe this incident should define Brittney Griner – either as a person or as a player,” she added. “Anyone who has been around her knows that she’s a great kid. Her actions last night were very uncharacteristic of her. Unfortunately, she let her emotions get the best of her, and that can’t happen. Brittney is a special young lady, she is great for our game, and I believe she will learn from this mistake and will become a better person moving forward.”