Texas Tech University Athletics
Lady Raiders To Clash With Texas
January 21, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
#7 Texas Tech Lady Raiders (15-1/4-0 Big 12) vs. #16/17 Texas Longhorns (11-4/4-0 Big 12)
January 22, 2003 * Austin, Texas * 7 p.m.
Television - UPN22 in Lubbock
Frank Erwin Center (16,079)
Wednesday's Game
No. 7 Texas Tech (15-1/4-0) takes on No. 16/17 Texas (11-4/4-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. in Austin at the Frank Erwin Center. It is the 66th meeting between the two schools. The game will be televised locally in Lubbock on UPN22 with Bill Land and Brenda Van Lengen calling the game. The game can also be heard on the All Sports Radio Network with Ryan Hyatt doing the play-by-play.
The Lady Raiders
Texas Tech is 15-1 on the year and 4-0 in the Big 12 after defeating Oklahoma State, 95-45, last Saturday in Lubbock. On the year, senior Plenette Pierson leads the team in scoring with a 17.6 average followed by junior Jia Perkins at 16.2 and sophomore Cisti Greenwalt at 10.4. Pierson is the top rebounder, grabbing 7.4 boards per outing. Freshman Erin Grant is shooting a team-high 60.3 percent from the field. Junior Natalie Ritchie is shooting 36.5 percent from three-point range. Grant has a team-high 120 assists, while Perkins leads the team in steals with 36. Greenwalt is the top shot blocker with 53 blocks. The Lady Raiders are shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from three-point range and 65.8 percent from the free throw line.
Scouting the Opponent
Texas enters the game with an 11-4 overall record and 4-0 in the Big 12 after beating Baylor, 70-50, last Saturday in Austin. In that game, sophomore Heather Schreiber poured in a game-high 23 points followed by junior Stacy Stephens with 11 and senior Tai Dillard and junior Jamie Carey with 10 apiece. Schreiber also added 14 rebounds and four steals. Freshman Nina Norman tallied five assists and Stephens had four blocks.
On the year, Stephens paces the Longhorns in scoring with a 13.5 average followed by Schreiber at 12.8 and Carey at 10.5. Stephens is the top rebounder as she is averaging 8.3 boards per contest. Norman has a team-high 46 assists, while sophomore Kala Bowers leads the team in steals with 29. Stephens is the top shot blocker with 18 blocks. Texas is shooting 44.4 percent from the field, 37.8 percent from the three-point line and 67.2 percent from the charity stripe.
Jody Conradt is in her 27th year at the helm of the Longhorns establish-ing a record of 682-200. She is also in her 34th year as a head coach with a career record of 799-262.
Series Record
It is the 66th meeting between Texas Tech and Texas with the Long-horns holding a 47-18 advantage. Last year, each team won on its home court. Texas won in Austin, 87-83, in overtime Jan. 13, 2002, while Tech was victorious, 61-49, in Lubbock Feb. 6, 2002. The Lady Raiders are 5-20 in Austin and have won two of the last three games in Austin and three of the last five at the Erwin Center.
Last Time vs. Texas
Feb. 6, 2002 - Jia Perkins had 14 of her 16 points in the second half as 15th-ranked Texas Tech beat No. 17 Texas 61-49, handing the Longhorns their fourth straight loss.
Texas Tech broke out of a 41-41 tie with a 13-2 run that included an open-court steal by Perkins, which she turned into a basket despite being shoved by Texas' Kenya Larkin. Perkins made both free throws off the inten-tional foul.
Texas was led by Stacy Stephens with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Heather Schreiber added 12 points and Larkin 10.
Tech sealed the victory from the free-throw line, hitting 8-of-10 foul shots, including 4-of-4 by Perkins and 3-of-4 by Amber Tarr in the final 1:21. Perkins also had a four-point play late in the game.
Jolee Ayers scored 15 points and had 11 rebounds in her first career start for the Raiders, and Candi White added 10 points.
Texas led 20-19 after a miserable first-half shooting performance by both teams. The Longhorns shot 32 percent (9-of-28) from the field while Texas Tech managed just 23 percent (7-of-31), including Perkins' 1-of-9 showing.
Tech improved to 50 percent (13-of-26) in the second half while Texas jumped to 38 percent (13-of-34).
The Raiders hit just one of their first 16 shots but trailed only 6-4 midway through the first half. Ayers had nine rebounds in the first half, when neither team led by more than three points.
The Longhorns missed all eight of their 3-point attempts.
A Win Wednesday Would ...
- give head coach Marsha Sharp her 495th career victory - just five shy of her 500th career win
- give Tech a 16-1 overall record and 5-0 in the Big 12
- give Tech a 16-game winning streak
A Look Ahead
Texas Tech will play at Colorado Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. CST on Fox Sports Net. Tech returns home Jan. 28 to take on Missouri at 7 p.m. The Lady Raiders will travel to Kansas Feb. 1 for a 2 p.m. game before hosting Iowa State Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. The Iowa State game will be televised on espn2.
Lady Raider Head Coach Marsha Sharp
One of the most respected and well-known coaches in Texas Tech his-tory, head coach Marsha Sharp is 494-154 in her 21st year at the helm of the Lady Raiders. Entering the 2002-03 season, Sharp was the seventh active winningest coach among Division I coaches. She has led the Lady Raiders to 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 13 consecutive, and nine 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.
Sharp was also the head coach of the 2002 USA Basketball World Championship For Young Women Qualifying Team, which won the gold medal in Brazil.
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.
NCAA Stats
As of games through Jan. 20, sophomore Cisti Greenwalt ranks sixth in blocked shots per game (3.3) and freshman Erin Grant is seventh in assists per game (7.5), among all NCAA Division I players. As a team, Texas Tech ranks second in blocked shots per game (7.8), fourth in won-lost percentage (93.8), eighth in field goal percentage defense (34.5), ninth in scoring mar-gin (20.5), ninth in turnovers per game (14.2), 10th in scoring offense (79.9), 12th in rebound margin (9.0), 15th in field goal percentage (47.2) and 24th in assists per game (17.6).
Off To Best Start Since 1998-99
Texas Tech is 15-1 and off to its best start since 1998-99 when the Lady Raiders started 17-1. In 1998-99, Tech finished 30-4 on the year and 14-2 in the Big 12 and claimed their second-straight Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles.
