Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Houston Jaguars (Exhibtion)
Lady Raiders Cruise Past Houston Jaguars
November 10, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2003
PATRICK GONZALES
A-J SPORTS EDITOR
The Texas Tech women's basketball team spent most of the offseason fine-tuning its perimeter shooting in preparation for life without Plenette Pierson. The Lady Raiders showed Monday that not having a primary scorer in the point might not be a bad thing after all.
Tech shot a sizzling 63.4 percent from the field and had six players score in double figures en route to posting an easy 109-60 win over the Houston Jaguars.
The Lady Raiders connected on 45 of their 71 field goal attempts in their final exhibition game of the season, including 4 of 8 from the 3-point line, giving the announced crowd of 9,706 a glimpse of the new offensive style they'll be seeing more of this season.
"We are in a situation where we give everybody the green light," Tech coach Marsha Sharp said. "I'm not going to keep anybody from shooting it from a particular spot right now. I really think we're better that way. We're great shooters, honestly. They do it every single day, and they've been consistent in practice."
The Lady Raiders not only displayed their improved shooting skills Monday, but several players also showed off their extended range. Cisti Greenwalt and Jolee Ayers-Curry nailed some impressive jumpers outside of the lane, while Ayers-Curry even drained a couple of 19-footers on the way to scoring 18 points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds. She was 4 of 4 in the first half and helped set the tone for the Lady Raiders and their improvement in the low-post area.
Sharp said earlier this week that the frontcourt was a sore spot for Tech in its first exhibition game last week, but on Monday, Ayers-Curry, Greenwalt, Jametra Clark, LaToya Davis and Casey Jackson responded to the challenge, scoring a combined 55 points and grabbing a total of 30 rebounds.
"I thought we were a lot more confident and a lot more aggressive," Sharp said. "I thought we took a little more ownership of the game in that area. I thought Jolee got us off to a terrific start ... . I just thought our mentality in the post area was so much stronger than it was last week."
But it was a 3-pointer from the right wing by sophomore point guard Erin Grant that may have impressed the crowd the most. Even though Monday's game was an exhibition, the 3-point field goal was Grant's first official 3-pointer as a Lady Raider, as she missed her only attempt from beyond the arc as a freshman a year ago.
She finished with three points and added 10 assists, four rebounds and four steals.
"It felt great," Grant said of the shot, which was followed by a loud ovation from the crowd. "I really didn't think about taking it, and I think that is why I was successful. I was real excited to get it over with. It felt great to have the crowd cheering for me, and its just another addition I want to add to may game."
Super freshman Alesha Robertson also continued to wow the home crowd with her play, as she finished with a game-high 23 points and added five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. She was scoreless through most of the first half before she scored 12 points in the final 4:14 to help spark a 16-4 run that gave the Lady Raiders a 53-31 lead at halftime. Tech went on to outscore the Jaguars 56-29 in the second half to cruise to the victory.
"We found her in some great spots from the 3-point line and she did a good job creating shots at the rim," Sharp said. "I think she's been pretty impressive with the things she's done so far and the many ways she has scored. I don't think there is any question she is going to help us on the offensive end." Tech begins the regular season at 7 p.m. Friday against Texas-San Antonio in the first round of the preseason WNIT.
