Hyde Leads Tech in 73-52 Win, Nobles
Returns
Lady
Raiders improve to 6-1 overall
By Alana Kiker
On
November 2, Texas Tech announced junior forward Shauntal
Nobles was out indefinitely following being diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which is a disorder where the
immune system attacks the nerves.
According
to the press release, Nobles was to begin aggressive treatments immediately and
would have a full recovery.
During
the Lady Raiders 73-52 victory against the Lamar Lady Cardinals, Nobles made
her return to the court inside the United Spirit Arena, which Tech head coach
Kristy Curry said was an emotional moment for the team.
Senior
Christine Hyde, who finished the game with a team-high 25 points, said it was
overwhelming to see her teammate and friend walk back onto the court.
“It
means a lot,” she said. “You know, we talk about it all the time. We cry about
it all the time, so just seeing her out there and playing with her
just—it hurts my heart that she hasn’t been here for a while— but
as soon as she came back on the floor, I felt nothing but joy and happiness for
her.”
Despite
starting off slow, the Lady Raider basketball team was able to come back and
win their fourth-straight game.
Ending
the first half down by six points, Texas Tech came back burning for outscoring
the Lady Cardinals 45-27 in the second half to improve to 6-1 in 2012.
“I
just liked our toughness, you know, and we had adversity,” Tech head coach
Kristy Curry said. “Adversity is all about how you handle it. We try and stay
positive at half time and teach.”
Despite
holding onto a lead at the half, Lamar head coach Larry Tidwell said there was
a difference between his squad and the Lady Raiders coming out of the locker
room – pure physicality.
Senior
Casey Morris, who finished the game 6-for-9 from the field for 13 points, gave
some insight to what changed the mindset of the team during half time.
“I
think the coaches were just reiterating at half time that we needed to get up
into them and pressure and we had to make adjustments,” she said. “That’s part
of maturity, just adjusting and the first half just wasn’t going our way, we
wanted to adjust and make sure we pressured up and made them uncomfortable.”
Where
the most noticeable difference in the second half for the Lady Raiders came at
the charity stripe.
Earlier
this season, following a victory where Tech struggled at the free-throw line,
Curry said the goal for the team is to hit 80 percent of its free-throws in a
game, that’s their goal in practice and in-game alike.
On
Saturday – mission accomplished in the second half.
Following
starting the first half shooting just 50 percent from the line going 4-for-8,
Tech rebounded in the second half, 14-for-15 from the line for 93.3 percent.
“To
see us shooting 93 percent in the second half from the foul line is just so
exciting, because we’ve got to make our free throws,” Curry said. “We always
want to make more than our opponent shoots, obviously we did a great job with
that. And that’s a stat line you can always look at, that and the offensive
boards for who was the most aggressive team and I think those two stat lines
answer the question.”
The
next game for the Lady Raiders is Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in the United Spirit
Arena against Big 10 opponent Illinois.
No. 9 Arizona Wins Big, Red Raiders Perfect
Start Ended
Jaye Crockett led Tech with 12 points
By Faith Pinegar
and Zach Moss
The undefeated season for the Texas Tech men’s basketball
team came to an end Saturday night inside the United Spirit Arena, Red Raiders
falling to 9th-ranked Arizona, 85-57.
“We played a
really good team tonight; I think that team has a chance of being in the Final
Four,” interim head coach Chris Walker said. “They have experienced guards and
size, good coach, and really did some positive things. The only thing we can do
is take it as an opportunity. We have some young guys,
some inexperienced guys, and that was a good game for them- to really get a
taste of what high-level, Division 1 basketball is all about.”
Arizona took the lead early in the first half, and never let
up as they dominated throughout the game. Head coach Sean Miller was pleased
with his team’s win against the Red Raiders (4-1).
“We are excited to leave Lubbock with a win…You wonder how it’s all going to work out on the road
against a phonetic, hard-playing team,” he said. “That style of playing is
particularly challenging because it tests your poise, it tests your character,
and they’re going to make runs because of the way they’re playing. And how you
handle those runs inevitably will either lead to victory or defeat.”
Arizona (5-0) had 5 players that reached double-digit
scoring, with Nick Johnson leading the pack with 18 points on a 7-for-11 night
from the field, while Tech only had one- Jaye
Crockett who tossed in 12 points.
“It was a tough loss,” he said. “They just came out there as
a better team today. We made a lot of mistakes, we didn’t play together like we
need to, and I just feel like we just gave them too many rebounds, second
chance shots, and they were just on tonight.”
Texas Tech looks to put this loss behind them, and start a
new winning streak as they take on Northern Kentucky Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
inside the United Spirit Arena