Lady Raiders take on Kansas State

The Lady Raiders (11-3, 1-1) play the Kansas State Wildcats (10-4, 1-1) tonight at the USA at 7pm CST. The Lady Raiders are coming off a loss with the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday Jan 5^th. Kansas State and Texas Tech will be meeting for the 23^rd time. The series is tied at 11 games each. The Lady Raiders and the Wildcats play each other tough. The last three games have been decided by two points or less with the Lady Raiders winning 2 of the 3 including the last meeting in March 2012 (64-63). If Tech wins tonight, it will be Head Coach Kristy Curry's win number 300.

NOTE: Consider this the Gamethread. Also, I will not be able to watch this game. Cheer loud and hard for the Lady Raiders.

The Lady Raiders struggled in their game with Iowa State on Saturday afternoon. On the defensive side of the ball, they forced 22 Turnovers and had 14 Steals but only made 17 of 57 attempts from the field in FGs. The Lady Raiders had a chance to pull out the win in the closing seconds of the game but a Steal and a push down the court by Monique Smalls, ended badly when she drove the lane and then tried to float the ball over the Cyclone defenders heads. The ball went wide of the rim. In retrospect, Smalls should have pulled out and set-up a play rather than trying to get the shot over the taller Cyclone players she was up against. The Lady Raiders could have dominated the game but could not get their shots to fall. If Tech is to beat Kansas State tonight, they have to come out hitting their FGs and maintaining their high percentage (82.9% FT%) on the FT% and they will need to not turn the ball over to the Wildcats.

Kansas State is in the same spot as Tech in conference play with one win and one loss. The Wildcats lost their Opener against Kansas but pulled out a win in the final second against TCU on Jan 5th. Kansas State is a strong 3-Pt team and they are strong on the Rebounds and Steals. They average 7.5 3-Pts per game. The Wildcats average 11.8 Steals per game. The two players to watch on the Wildcats team are Senior Guard Brittany Chambers and Sophomore Guard Haley Texada. Chambers averages 18.1 points per game and 7.6 Rebounds per game. Texada averages 12.6 points per game and has been in double figures in 10 of the last 14 games. She also averages 72.2 at the FT line. The Wildcats are currently in 6th place in the Big12 standings.

Texas Tech leads the Big 12 Conference in total steals with 179 in 14 games (12.8 per game). Texas Tech enters this game in the 5th place spot in the Big12 standings. The Lady Raiders lead the Big 12 and are #10 in the Nation with a +7.1 turnover. 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% is currently 82.9%. Coach Kristy Curry is in her 7th season and her current record at Texas Tech is 120-90 and but is only 3-5 against Kansas State.

The Wildcats' Head Coach, Deb Patterson is in her 17^th season with Kansas State. Her career record is 320-189 and with Kansas State. During her time in Manhattan, Patterson has directed the program to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, nine 20-win seasons, two Big 12 regular season titles (2004 and 2008) and one postseason WNIT crown (2006). In the history of K-State women's basketball, Patterson is the longest tenured coach and has the most NCAA Tournament appearances and the most 20-win seasons of any of her predecessors.

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

G Haley Texada Averages 12.6 Pts and has a 72.2% FT%

G Brittany Chambers Averages 18.6 Pts and 7.6 Rebounds/game

G Bri Craig Averages 9.0 Pts and 2.0 Rebounds/game

G Mariah White Averages 3.9 Pts and has a 76.2% FT%

G Ashia Woods Averages 5.9 Pts and 5.1 Rebounds/game

Notes:

Senior Casey Morris became the fi rst Lady Raider to score more than 1,000 career points since Kierra Mallard eclipsed the mark in 2011.

Eight of the first 10 games in Big 12 play have been decided by single digits, including two one-pointers last Saturday.

The Big 12 is No. 1 in conference RPI in both CBN and Sagarin ratings. The first NCAA team RPI was released Jan. 7 with eight Big 12 squads in the top 62.

The Big 12 is one of two leagues (Big Ten) in which every team has a winning record.

Seventy percent of Big 12 squads have reached double-figure wins.

Every Big 12 team will finish the non-conference portion of its season with a winning record for the sixth consecutive season. One non-conference game remains when Baylor travels to Connecticut on Feb. 18.

The Big 12 leads the nation in non-conference win percentage (.804) and fewest losses (90-22).

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The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Central (FSCEN) and/or FSPAC

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.

Consider this the Gamethread ( I will not be able to watch this game. Please cheer the Lady Raiders on to victory)

.....

Go Lady Raiders!!!

RAIDER !!!! POWER!!!!

Game: Lady Raiders vs. Kansas State Wildcats

Date: Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Time: 7:00pm CST

Location: USA Lubbock, TX

TV: FSCEN (TW 432 I Austin) (some notations are listing FSPAC)

Streaming Audio: www.texastech.com/allaccess/

Radio: Texas Tech Sports Network (97.3 FM Lubbock) and K-State Sports Network

Gametracker: www.texastech.com/gametracker