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The Lady Raiders opened up Big12 play with a road win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Wednesday. It was an exciting game and congratulations on the win. If Tech wins tonight, it will be Head Coach Kristy Curry's win number 300. Also, Casey Morris only needs to score three points and she will have reached a 1,000 points mark. Go Morris !!!
For the home opener, the Lady Raiders (11-2, 1-0) take on the Iowa State Cyclones (10-1, 1-0) today at the USA at 7pm CST. The Lady Raiders are coming off a road win over the Oklahoma State on Jan 2nd. Texas Tech and Iowa Sate are meeting for the 21st time. The series is tied 10-10 but Tech leads 8-3 for games played in Lubbock. The Lady Raiders won the last meeting in Feb 2012, 51-41.
The Lady Raiders pulled out a win in Stillwater on Wednesday and it was an exciting and very physical game but this team needs to learn how to play from the first second of each game. Texas Tech had to come back from a 15 point deficit in the first half of the Oklahoma State game. They just cannot come out slow or lacking focus if they are to compete in the Big12 and if they are to reach the NCAA tournament this season. The final stats for this game against the OSU Cowgirls were great but other teams and arenas will not relent and the losses will mount if this pattern does not end.
Iowa State has won five in a row and they beat the Texas Longhorns in overtime on Jan 2nd 73-65 in Ames, IA. The Cyclones are an extremely strong 3-point team and rarely miss at the Free-throw line. They average 7.64 3-Pts per game. The Cyclones have held eight of their last 11 opponents to 50 points or less. Iowa State ranks 4th nationally allowing opponents just 47.8 points per game. The Cyclones are the best Defensive Rebounding team in the conference averaging 32.27 per game. The two players to watch on the Cyclones team are Junior Forward Hallie Christofferson and Senior forward Chelsea Poppens. Christofferson averages 15.1 points per game and 7.8 Rebounds per game. Poppens averages 13.6 points per game and has been in double figures in four of the last five games. She also averages 8.9 Rebounds per game
The Cyclones are currently in 2nd place in the Big12 standings. They are number one in the Big12 in the following stats: Scoring Defense (47.8), Free-Throw % (78.2) and Defensive Rebounds (32.27). They are third in Scoring margin (+22.9), Rebounding Offense (45.1), Assists (17.91%) and 3-Pt FG made (7.64).
Texas Tech leads the Big 12 Conference in total steals with 165 in 13 games (12.7 per game). The Lady Raiders have held 112 of their opponents this season to 59 points or less. Texas Tech enters this game in the 4th place spot in the Big12 standings. The Lady Raiders have one of the best turnover margin averages in the country at +7.58. The Lady Raiders have forced a Conference-best 275 turnovers through 13 games The Lady Raiders have dominated their opponents by outscoring them an average of 18.5pts per game. They have 4 games in which the FG% was more than 62%. Tech's FT% have been above the 66% mark and it was 81.8% in their last game. . Three of the Lady Raiders are averaging in the double figures. Casey Morris leads the pack with an average of 12.1 points/game followed by Christine Hyde at 11.4pts/game and Kelsi Baker at 11pts/game. Monique Smalls, Chynna Brown and Jackie Patterson round out the high scorers with an average of 8.2pts, 9.2pts and 7.2pts per game respectively. Coach Kristy Curry is in her 7th season and her current record at Texas Tech is 120-89 but is only 2-5 against Iowa State.
The Cyclones' Head Coach, Bill Fennelly is in his 18th season with the Iowa State. His career record is 548-227 and with Iowa State 372-174. His teams have made 16 NCAA Championship appearances in his 24 seasons as a head coach and he ranks among the nation's top 25 active women's basketball college coaches in overall winning percentage. Fennelly is considered the dean of Big 12 women's basketball coaches and was granted a lifetime contract from Iowa State in 2007.
The Starting Lineups:
Texas Tech
G Monique Smalls Averages 8.2 Pts and has 30 Steals
G Casey Morris Averages 12.1 Pts and has a 78.8% FT%
G Chynna Brown Averages 9.2 Pts and has 25 Steals
F Christine Hyde Averages 11.4 Pts and 5.8 Rebounds/game
F Kelsi Baker Averages 11 Pts and 4.8 Rebounds/game
Oklahoma State
F Hallie Christofferson Averages 15.1 Pts and 7.8 Rebounds/game
F Chelsea Poppens Averages 13.6 Pts and has a 84.2.4% FT%
G/F Brynn Williamson Averages 9.5 Pts and 5.5 Rebounds/game
C Anna Prins Averages 11.9 Pts and has a 81% FT%
G Nikki Moody Averages 8.6 Pts and 4.2 Rebounds/game
Notes:
Senior Guard Casey Morris needs just 3 points to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career
This game will be the second Big12 game for both of these teams
The Big 12 leads the nation in non-conference win percentage (.804) and fewest losses (90-22).
The Big 12 is No. 1 in conference RPI by both Collegiate Basketball News and Sagarin ratings. Also, the Big 12 is the only conference with every team rated in the top 103 of the CBN RPI.
For the sixth consecutive season, every Big 12 team finished the non-conference with winning records.
The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Central (FSCEN)
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 6:45pm