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The Lady Raiders (9-2, 0-0) play the University of Houston Cougars (5-6, 0-0) today in the USA at 2pm CST. The Lady Raiders are coming off a loss and a win at the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas. They lost a close and tough game to Michigan State but won easily in the 2nd game over Oregon State.
Texas Tech and Houston are meeting for the 50th time with the last meeting in Nov 2011. Tech won that game 88-58. The Lady Raiders lead the series 35-14.
The Cougars are wreaking havoc in the paint with a 62.9% FG% and average 9.1 rebounds per game. Houston is a very young team with 6 true-freshman and 4 transfer newcomers. The Cougars are coming off a win over Texas State on Dec 22, 2012 (74-61). University of Houston's Guards Alecia Smith and Porsche Landry combined for 45 points. Smith, a freshman, had a career-best 24 points against the Bobcats, 10 of 17 from the floor and 4 of 8 from the 3pt range. Smith also reached a career-high of eight rebounds. Landry posted 21 points. She had 7 of 11 from the floor, which included 3of her FGs from long range and she made all 4 of her FT attempts. Houston dominated the glass, winning the rebound battle by a 50-29 margin.
Texas Tech has held 10 of its 11 opponents under 56 points this season and leads the Big 12 Conference in total steals with 141 in 11 games (12.8 per game). The Lady Raiders have one of the best turnover margin averages in the country at +8.45. The Lady Raiders have dominated their opponents by outscoring them an average of 18.5pts per game. They have 3 games in which the FG% was more than 62%. Tech's FT% have been above the 66% mark. Three of the Lady Raiders are averaging in the double figures. Casey Morris leads the pack with an average of 12.3 points/game followed by Christine Hyde at 11.5pts/game and Kelsi Baker at 10.8pts/game. Monique Smalls, Chynna Brown and Jackie Patterson round out the high scorers with an average of 8.2pts, 8.5pts and 7.2pts per game respectively. The Lady are averaging 12.8 Steals per game. Coach Kristy Curry is in her 7th season and her current record at Texas Tech is 118-89 and is 3-1 against Houston.
The Cougar's Head Coach, Todd Buchanan is in his 3rd season with the University of Houston. His career record is 133-142 and is 34-38 in the three seasons at UH. He was the Conference USA Coach of the year in 2011. He spent 5 seasons as the HC at Houston Baptist, compiling a record of 99-104.
The Starting Lineups:
Texas Tech
G Monique Smalls Averages 8.2 Pts and has 28 Steals
G Casey Morris Averages 12.3 Pts and has a 78.1% FT%
G Chynna Brown Averages 8.5 Pts and has 23 Steals
F Christine Hyde Averages 11.5 Pts and 6.3 Rebounds/game
F Kelsi Baker Averages 10.8 Pts and 4.7 Rebounds/game
University of Houston
G Porsche Landry Averages 16.7pts and has a 77.5% FT%
G Alecia Smith Averages 7 Pts and has a 85.7% FT%
F/C Yasmeen Thompson Averages 8.9 Pts and 9.1 Rebounds/game
F Marche' Amerson Averages 8.4 Pts and 5.1 Rebounds/game
F Te'onna Campbell Averages 7.2 Pts and 8.1 Rebounds/game
Notes:
This game will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest
To listen to the game go to TexastechTV (http://www.texastech.com/allaccess/)
The game can be heard on the radio 93.7 FM (Lubbock and on the Texas Tech Sports Network(www.TexasTech.com)
Live stats will be available on Gametracker at www.texastech.com/gametracker.
The GameThread will go up at 1:45pm