WBB: Lady Raiders vs. Jacksonville State

Go Lady Raiders!!!

RAIDER !!!!   POWER!!!!

Game: Lady Raiders vs.  Jacksonville State Gamecocks

Date: Friday, November 14, 2014

Time: 5:30pm CST

Location: "The USA" Lubbock, TX

Radio: Texas Tech Sports Network (97.3 FM Lubbock)

Gametracker: www.texastech.com/gametracker

Streaming video: TexasTechTV.com

Listen: TexasTechTV.com

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The Lady Raiders start the 2014-15 Season off tonight.  First up are the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.  The game will be played at 5:30pm CST and will be streamed on TexasTechTV and broadcast on the radio 97.3 FM Lubbock.   This game is the first time these two teams have met.

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks finished strong last season with a 13-win season ending in the Ohio Valley Conference.  They finished 14-18 but hope to pick-up where they left off last season. Expectations are high for this team as the Gamecocks have all five of their starters returning.  Players to watch are:  Senior Guard Candace Morton who started in all 32 games last season and averaged 16.6 ppg, 6.1 rebounds and 83 assists.  Destany McLin a Sophomore Guard with 14.3 ppg and is 6 rpg and is over 81% accurate from the free-throw line.  Senior Center Miranda Cantrell is 6ft tall and averages 7.3 rebounds per game and 9.9 ppg. Briana Benson is a Sophomore Guard that posts over 7.9 ppg and is strong with charity shots at over 76% accuracy.

I am not sure what to expect from the Lady Raiders this season and especially with Amber Battle out of the picture for the first six games. The team struggled last season (6-24) with only glimpses from the other team members. Battle was the only consistent player on the court all season long.  There is some good news Senior Forward Kelsi Baker returns after having to sit out with an injury last season.   The Starters for the kick-off game tonight are:  Sophomore Guard Minta Spears who averages 8.5 ppg and is 80% accurate at the charity stripe, Sophomore Guard Ivonne CookTaylor makes 6 ppg, and is over 80% accurate from the FT Line, Freshman Guard Rayven Brooks is in her first college game but she is 6 ft tall and averaged 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game her senior season in high school, Senior Forward Kelsi Baker averages 10.7 ppg, 5.6 rebounds  and 15 blocks and Freshman Forward Dayo Olabode adds to the height for this program at 6'2" and averaged 15.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in high school.

I am seeing the punishment days for Amber Battle as the true test for this team.  Last year as I noted, Battle was the only consistent player and this team needs to push themselves and focus and gel as a team.  The next six games will be an important gage of where this team can go this season. If Coach Candi Whitaker and her coaching staff can get these players to be consistent and play off of one another and get some strong wins then I think we will see a strong team going into Big12 conference play in January.   Texas Tech has been picked to finish in last place in the pre-season poll and I would love to see the Lady Raiders be this seasons "Cinderella Team" and get more wins than losses.

Let the games begin  ..... Wreck'Em !!!!

Quote from HC Candi Whitaker on what to take away from the season opener:

"It's an exciting time," we've put in a lot of hours and hard work to get this team ready for the season and its always beneficial as a coach to see it pay off on the floor when you get to the first game."

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The game can be heard on the radio 93.7 FM (Lubbock and on the Texas Tech Sports Network )

For a fee the game can be viewed via streaming video on TexasTechTV.com

Live stats will be available on Gametracker at TexasTech.com.