The Lady Raiders play the Texas Longhorns in Kansas City, MO on Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 5pm CST at the Municipal Auditorium at the 2012 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship - Game 1. This will be the 88th meeting between these two teams. Texas holds the lead in the series, 61-26. This season each team split the wins. Tech won the meeting in Lubbock on Jan 28, 2012. Texas got the win in Austin on Feb 15, 2012.
Tech enters the tournament after ending the season on a positive note with a win over Kansas State in Manhattan, KS. Tech was down in the 1st half by 17 points but closed the gap to a 6 point difference at the Half. Tech came out hot in the 2nd half and went on a 40-11 run and led by 12 points before K-State closed in. Tech won 62-61. game after beating Iowa State on Sunday Feb 12, 2012 in Lubbock (51-41). The 2nd half of the game reflected the Lady Raider style of aggressiveness and speed. . The Lady Longhorns ended their season by winning their final 3 games. They beat A&M in Austin on March 4, 2012. Final score was 79-64.
Tech is the #9 seed and UT is the #8 seed in the tournament.
What's at Stake: Both Tech and UT are trying to get to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big 12 Tournament.
Comments: Tech MUST win this game if they are to move forward in the Big 12 Tournament. They need to play aggressive and control the boards. They need to continue to improve on the FT% and capitalize on take-aways. I hope they take the momentum from the Kansas State game and continue to win.
More after the Jump ...
Current record: Tech's current season record is 18-12, 6-12 Big 12. Texas' current season record is 18-12, 8-10 Big12.
Players to watch:
Tech: Senior Forward Kierra Mallard is averaging 11.7 pts and 8.2 rebounds/game and has 49 blocks and 34 steals; Junior Guard Casey Morris averages 9.4 points per game and 3.7 rebounds/game and has 48 steals and has a 86 FT%; Junior Christine Hyde is out for the remainder of the season due to an injury and surgery; Junior Guard Monique Smalls is averaging 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds and has 70 steals; Sophomore Kelsi Baker averages 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds/game and has 9 blocks and 17 steals; Sophomore Forward Shauntal Nobles is averaging 6.3 pts and 5.1 rebounds/game and has 20 blocks and 19 steals. Junior Guard Chynna Brown is averaging 8.8 pts and 4.1 rebounds/game and has 20 steals; Senior Forward Jordan Barncastle averages 5.2 pts/game and completes 78% FTs and has 10 steals and 6 blocks.
Texas: Freshman Forward Nneka Enemkpali is averaging 3.8 pts and 5 rebounds/game and has 17 bloacks and 13 steals; Senior Guard Yvonne Anderson averages 11.9 pts and 3.3 rebounds/game and has 60 steals; Sophomore Guard Chassidy Fussell averages 16.9 pts and 4.3 rebounds/game and has 36 steals and is over 88% Free-throw shooter; Senior Guard Ashleigh Fontenette averages 11.6 pts and 4.2 rebounds/game and 38 steals; Sophomore Point Guard Anne Marie Hartung averages 4.8 pts and 4.3 rebounds/game and has 10 blocks and 19 steals
Coaches: Kristy Curry is coaching her 6th season at Tech. (106-85). Gail Goestenkors is entering her 5th season with the Texas Longhorns (102-62).
Radio: Texas Tech Sports Network (97.3 FM Lubbock) and Texas (KVET 103.1 FM and 1300 AM)
Gametracker: www.texastech.com/gametracker and www.texassports.com/gametracker
Streaming video ONLY Audio available www.texastech.com/allaccess/ (~ $10/month)
TV: Kansas Metro Sports and http://www.big12sports.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=0
Game Thread will go up at 4:45pm CST on Wednesday , March 7, 2012
Other Notes:
Junior Guard Casey Morris led the team with 19 points and had three, 3-pointers in the game with Oklahoma on Feb. 29. She had 15 points on 6 of 13 shooting against Texas A&M and added three steals. That's the 13th and 14th time this season that Morris has scored in double figures and fifth and sixth time she has scored 15 points or more. She's led the team in scoring five times this season - including 4 of the last 8.
Sophomore forward Shauntal Nobles scored a career-high 16 points in the win over K-State. That's the ninth time Nobles has scored in double figures this season. She beat her previous high of 14 points scored in the win over San Diego on Dec. 30,2011.
Junior guard Monique Smalls tied a career-high with 15 points in the win over Kansas State on Saturday.That's the third time this season and fifth time in her career that she's scored 15 points. Texas Tech is 4-1 when Smalls scores 15 points.
Texas Tech is 14-13 at the Big 12 Championship.
Texas Tech won the Big 12 Championship in 1998 and 1999.
Texas Tech won its first round game last season for the first time since 2006.
The Big 12 is listed first in the Sagarin and Collegiate Basketball News' Women's RPI ratings.
The Big 12 is the only conference with every team in the top 94 of the NCAA RPI. Nine teams are in the top 64.
The Big 12 is the only conference with every team ranked in the top 80 for strength of schedule with nine in the top 43.
Twenty-five of 47 games in conference play have been decided by single digits, including 14 by five-or-less points.
Home squads have a 27-23 advantage in Big 12 games after posting a nation-leading 68-3 (.958) mark in home non-conference games.
The Big 12 is averaging over 5,300 fans per home game. Five Conference schools are ranked in the Top 13 -- No. 2. Iowa State (9,789), No. 7 Texas Tech (7,708), No. 8 Baylor (7,688), No. 10 Oklahoma (6,865) and No. 13 Texas A&M (6,220).
The Lady Raiders are the second-highest scoring team in the Big 12 (75.2), are second in turnover margin (+4.38) and lead the league in steals (13.4) and offensive rebounds (18.63).
TEXAS TECH LADY RAIDERS
| TEXAS TECH LADY RAIDERS (18-12, 6-12) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | NO. | HT | P | YR | STATS |
| Monique Smalls | 23 | 5-6 | G | JR | 8.3 pts/game |
| Casey Morris | 15 | 5-9 | G | JR | 9.7 pts/game |
| Chynna Brown | 00 | 5-8 | G | JR | 8.8 pts/game |
| Kelsi Baker | 41 | 6-0 | F | SO | 7.6 pts/game |
| Kierra Mallard | 20 | 6-3 | F | SR | 13.1 pts/game |
TEXAS LONGHORNS
| Texas Longhorns (18-12, 8-10) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | NO. | HT | P | YR | STATS |
| Nikki Moody | 3 | 6-1 | F | Fr | 3.8 pts/game |
| Lauren Mansfield | 12 | 5-7 | G | Sr | 11.7 pts/game |
| Chassidy Cole | 24 | 5-10 | G | So | 16.7 pts/game |
| Chelsea Poppens | 33 | 5-8 | G | Sr | 11.3 pts/game |
| Hallie Christofferson | 44 | 6-3 | P | So | 5.4 pts/game |
Four Factors to Winning
| The Four Factors to Winning | Texas | Texas Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Shooting eFG% | 0.363 | 0.344 |
| Ball Handling TO% | 0.386 | 0.388 |
| Off rebounding OR% | 0.368 | 0.411 |
| Shooting FTs FT Rate | 0.68 | 0.661 |
TEAM STATISTICS
| Scoring Offense | W-L | Pts | Avg/G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Tech | 18-12, 6-12 | 2012 | 67.1 |
| Texas | 18-12, 8-10 | 2042 | 68.1 |
| Scoring Defense | W-L | Pts | Avg/G |
| Texas Tech | 18-12, 6-12 | 1772 | 59.1 |
| Texas | 18-12, 8-10 | 1859 | 62 |
| Scoring Margin | Off | Def | Margin |
| Texas Tech | 67.1 | 59.1 | +8.0 |
| Texas | 68.1 | 62 | +6.1 |
| Free Throw % | FT Made | FT Attempts | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 435 | 655 | 0.664 |
| Texas | 380 | 549 | 0.692 |
| Field Goal % | FG | FG A | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 713 | 1835 | 0.389 |
| Texas | 754 | 1835 | 0.411 |
| Field Goal % Defense | FG | FGA | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 639 | 1645 | 0.388 |
| Texas | 659 | 1811 | 0.364 |
| 3-Point FG % | FG | FGA | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 151 | 481 | 0.314 |
| Texas | 154 | 447 | 0.345 |
| 3-Point FG % Defense | FG | FGA | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 129 | 452 | 0.285 |
| Texas | 155 | 502 | 0.309 |
| Rebounding Offense | Reb | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 1242 | 41.4 | |
| Texas | 1216 | 40.5 | |
| Rebounding Defense | Reb | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 1080 | 36 | |
| Texas | 1160 | 38.7 | |
| Blocked Shots | Blocks | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 117 | 3.9 | |
| Texas | 184 | 6.13 | |
| Assists | No. | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 386 | 12.87 | |
| Texas | 421 | 14.03 | |
| Steals | No. | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 323 | 10.77 | |
| Texas | 275 | 9.17 |