Texas Tech University Athletics
Lady Raiders Face Duke This Weekend
November 08, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2001
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#7/7 Texas Tech Lady Raiders (0-0)
vs.
#4/5 Duke Blue Devils (0-0)
Durham, N.C. * Noon CST * ESPN
Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
Sunday's Game
Texas Tech plays its first game of the 2001-02 season against Duke in the first game of the State Farm Women's Tip-Off Classic at Noon CST on ESPN. The Lady Raiders enter the game with a preseason ranking of seventh in both the Associated Press poll and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The Blue Devils are ranked No. 4 in the USA Today/ESPN poll and No. 5 in the AP poll.
The Lady Raiders
Texas Tech only lost one starter from last year with a team that finished 25-7 and ranked 11th in the USA Today poll and 13th in the AP poll after advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Tech's top returners include preseason Naismith Player of the Year candidate junior forward/center Plenette Pierson, who was the Lady Raiders top scorer last year averaging 14.7 points a game. Pierson was also the top rebounder, grabbing 7.4 boards per outing. Sophomore Jia Perkins, who was the team's MVP last year, came off the bench last season to average 13.6 points and led the team in assists with 123 and steals with 91. Senior Amber Tarr returns for her final season after scoring 8.7 points and shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range as a junior. Tech also welcomes four freshman led by 6-5 center Cisti Greenwalt - a Parade and Nike All-American. Freshman forward Jametra Clark will redshirt the 2001-02 season to rehab a previous knee injury.
Scouting the Opponent
No. 4/5 Duke returns three starters from last year's team that went 30-4 and finished the year ranked fifth in the AP poll and eighth by USA Today after advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils also won the 2001 ACC regular season and tournament titles. Duke's top returning player is sophomore guard/forward Alana Beard. Beard, who was the National Freshman of the Year, averaged 17 points and 4.5 rebounds as a freshman. Junior Sheana Mosch and sophomore Iciss Tillis are the other returning starters for the Blue Devils. Mosch averaged 10.7 points per outing, while Tillis averaged 8.6 and recorded a team-high 40 blocks on the year.
Gail Goestenkors is in her 10th year at the helm of the Blue Devils, establishing a career record of 206-78.
Duke played one exhibition game before squaring off with the Lady Raiders as they defeated Dynamo-Moscow, 86-73, last Tuesday. In that game, Tillis had a game-high 25 points followed by Beard with 20. Also scoring in double figures were Mosch with 18 and freshman Monique Currie with 11. Beard had a team-high nine rebounds, while senior Krista Gingrich had a game-high five assists. The Blue Devils shot 46.7 percent from the field, connecting on 35 of 75 attempts.
Series Record
Today is the first meeting between Texas Tech and Duke.
Season Openers
Texas Tech is 18-8 in season openers and 14-5 under head coach Marsha Sharp. Last year, Tech defeated Texas-Arlington, 78-40, Nov. 20 in its season opener in Lubbock. This is the first time since the 1997-98 season that the Lady Raiders have opened the season on the road.
A Look Ahead
Texas Tech will return home for one last exhibition game Nov. 13 against the Houston Jaguars at 7 p.m. Tech will then hit the road for three-straight games at Oregon State Nov. 24, at Oregon Nov. 26 and at New Mexico Nov. 29. The Lady Raiders will be back in Lubbock for three-straight contests against North Texas Dec. 2 , Rice Dec. 5 and Southern Miss Dec. 16.
Lady Raider Head Coach Marsha Sharp
One of the most respected and well-known coaches in Texas Tech history, head coach Marsha Sharp is 459-141 in her 20th year at the helm of the Lady Raiders. Entering the 2001-02 season, Sharp was the seventh active winningest coach among Division I coaches. She has led the Lady Raiders to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 12 consecutive, and eight NCAA Sweet 16 and three Elite Eight appearances and the NCAA National Championship in 1993. Sharp led the Lady Raiders to three-straight Big 12 Conference regular-season titles (1998-2000) and two tournament crowns (1998, 1999). While in the SWC, coach Sharp and the Lady Raiders never finished below third, they won or shared the last five championships, and they captured three Post-Season Classic titles.
A 1974 graduate of Wayland Baptist University, Sharp was named the National Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1994. She also reaped SWC Coach of the Year honors seven times, five consecutively.
Last Time Out
In its first exhibition game of the season, Texas Tech defeated Denmark, 82-49, last Monday night.
Sophomore forward Casey Jackson paced Tech with a game-high 19 points, while grabbing 10 rebounds for the team's only double-double of the night. Senior Amber Tarr pitched in 14 points followed by sophomore Jia Perkins and freshman Cisti Greenwalt with 13 points each. Junior Plenette Pierson added 12 points.
Sophomore Jolee Ayers came off the bench and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, while Perkins led the team with eight assists and five steals.
Denmark was led in scoring by Therese Demand with 11 points and Kristine Dalgaard had a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Lady Raiders shot 40.9 percent from the field, connecting on 36 of 88 shot attempts.
