Texas Tech University Athletics
Lady Raiders Travel To Baylor
February 14, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2003
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#7/8 Texas Tech Lady Raiders (20-2/9-1 Big 12)
vs. Baylor Lady Bears (15-7/4-6 Big 12)
February 15, 2003 * Lubbock, Texas * 7 p.m.
Saturday's Game
No. 7/8 Texas Tech (20-2/9-1) plays at Baylor (15-7/4-6) on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. It is the 54th meeting between the two schools and head coach Marsha Sharp will be going for her 500th-career victory. The game will be televised locally in Lubbock on UPN22 with Vinnie Vinzetta and Crystal Boles calling the game. The game can be heard on the All Sports Radio Network as Ryan Hyatt calls the game.
The Lady Raiders
Texas Tech is 20-2 on the year and 9-1 in the Big 12 after beating Texas A&M, 83-38, last Wednesday. On the year, senior Plenette Pierson leads the team in scoring with an 18.0 average followed by junior Jia Perkins at 16.1. Pierson is the top rebounder, grabbing 7.1 boards per outing. Freshman Erin Grant is shooting 52.8 percent from the field and Pierson is shooting 51.7 percent. Junior Miklannet Tennal is shooting 45.2 percent from three-point range, while junior Natalie Ritchie is shooting 36.5 percent. Grant has a team-high 149 assists, while Perkins leads the team in steals with 48. Sopho-more Cisti Greenwalt is the top shot blocker with 62 blocks. The Lady Raid-ers are shooting 47.6 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from three-point range and 66.9 percent from the free throw line.
Scouting the Opponent
Baylor enters the game with a 15-7 overall record and 4-6 in the Big 12 after losing at Oklahoma, 78-64, last Wednesday. In that game, junior Dionne Brown scored a team-high 16 points followed by freshmen Sophia Young and Ebony Jackson and sophomore Melanie Hamerly with 10 points each. Brown grabbed 11 rebounds, while Jackson tallied six assists. Young got two steals and junior Jessika Stratton had to blocks.
On the year, sophomore Steffanie Blackmon paces the Lady Bears in scoring with a 17.3 average followed by Young at 11.9 and Brown at 10.9. Young is the top rebounder as she is averaging 9.1 boards per contest. Sophomore Chelsea Whitaker has a team-high 100 assists, while Young leads the team in steals with 49. Blackmon is the top shot blocker with 41 blocks. Baylor is shooting 45.7 percent from the field, 35.2 percent from three-point range and 70.3 percent from the charity stripe.
Kim Mulkey-Robertson is in her third year at the helm of the Lady Bears establishing a career record of 63-22.
Series Record
It is the 54th meeting between Texas Tech and Baylor with Tech holding a 43-10 advantage (including a forfeit in 1989). The Lady Raiders won the first meeting this year, 62-48, Jan. 11 in Lubbock. The last victory for the Lady Bears was a 75-60 triumph March 6 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tourna-ment in Kansas City, Mo.
Last Time vs. Baylor
Jan. 11, 2003 - Sophia Young had just scored on an inside basket, pulling the Lady Bears within three points with about four minutes left. But then Young fouled out and received a technical for falling on the floor while protesting the call, and Texas Tech pulled away for a 62-48 vic-tory. Helped by the fouls, Tech went on an 11-0 run for its 13th straight win.
After LaToya Davis and Natalie Ritchie converted the four free throws, Ritchie came back to hit a 10-footer to give the Lady Raiders a 55-46 advan-tage. Davis then scored again, Jametra Clark added a free throw and Jia Perkins converted a short jumper as Tech put the game out of reach. Davis came off the bench to lead Tech with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Tech built a 44-34 lead in the second half, taking a 44-34 on a 15-foot jumper by Perkins with 8:45 remaining.
The Lady Bears answered with seven consecutive points by Steffanie Blackmon to pull within 44-41 at the 7:22 mark.
Brown paced Baylor with 13 points. Blackmon finished with 11, and Jessica Stratton added 10.
Ritchie finished with 13 points for the Lady Raiders, while Perkins added 11.
A Win Saturday Would...
- give head coach Marsha Sharp her 500th-career victory
- give Tech a 21-2 overall record and 10-1 in the Big 12
- give Tech a 43-10 record against Baylor
A Look Ahead
Texas Tech hosts Oklahoma Feb. 19 at 7:15 p.m. and will be televised in Lubbock on UPN22. The Lady Raiders hit the road for two games Feb. 22 at Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. and Feb. 26 at Nebraska with tip-off at 7:05 p.m. The Nebraska game will be televised in Lubbock on UPN22.
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 499-155 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 Feb. 10, sophomore Cisti Greenwalt ranks ninth in blocked shots per game (2.9), freshman Erin Grant is 10th (top freshman) in assists per game (6.9), and senior Plenette Pierson is 30th in scoring (18.7) among all NCAA Division I players. As a team, Texas Tech ranks third in blocked shots (7.2), sixth in won-lost percentage (90.5), seventh in scoring margin (20.1), seventh in field goal percentage defense (34.6), eighth in turnovers per game (13.9), 10th in scoring offense (78.8), 10th in field goal percentage (47.4), 16th in rebound margin (7.9) and 24th in assists per game (17.1).
On the Right Track
The Lady Raiders are 20-2 on the season, which marks their best start since the 1995-96 season when they started off 22-2.
