#9/9 Texas is coming off a close loss to UConn on Monday, 75-71. The Horns (14-3; 5-1) will face off with a Texas Tech team that fired head coach on Jan. 01, 2018 after the team started off Big 12 play with two 40 plus losses to OSU and Baylor. Tech (7-12; 1-6) is coming off their first league win this season at Kansas to snap a six game Big 12 losing streak. Shimmy Gray-Miller, the Interim Head Coach, is currently 1-4. Texas owns a 69-29 edge in the series. Horns have won six in a row after snapping a five losing streak on 02/05/14 with a 88-51 win in Austin. The game will feature two assistant coaches that played with the Houston Comets when they dominated the WNBA: Texas’ Tina Thompson and Tech’s Sheryl Swoopes. TEXAS TECH LADY RAIDERS Tech has lost the two players that started at PG most of the season: Receé Caldwell (#4, 5-9 Sr. G) who suffered a shoulder injury (labrum tear?) against Baylor on 12/31/17 and has not played since and Mckenzie Calvert, a grad transfer from Kansas who left the team on Jan. 12, 2018 after starting three games beginning with the Baylor game on 12/31/17 and ending with the Jan. 07, 2018 game vs TCU. She came off the bench in her last game on 01/10/18 vs OU. Currently, Grayson Bright (#10, 5-11 G) has taken over the PG duties. I don’t believe Caldwell will be available for this game although she should be back this season. In her absence, Brielle Blaire (#00, 6-1 Sr. F) is the leading scorer at 10.9 ppg in conference play. Next are two post players, Jada Terry (#12, 6-4 Sr. C) averaging 8.9 ppg and Erin DeGrate (6-6 Soph. C) who adds 8.6 ppg coming off the bench. Brittany Brewer (#20, 6-5 Soph. F), the third member of the Lady Raiders’ tall posts, is the fourth leading scorer at 6.7 ppg. The main shooters for the Lady Raiders from BTA are Blaire (9-34; 26.5%) and Lyndsey Whilby (#3, 5-11 Fr. G; 10-32; 31.3%). Dayo Olabode (#32, 6-1 Sr. F) has the best 3pt shooting percentage at 40% on 4 of 10 treys. Tech has four players getting to the FT line at least twice a game. But only Blaire (21-28; 75.0%) is taking advantage of that. The other three are hitting just over 50% of their FTs: Degrate (10-20; 50%), Terry (16-29; 55.2%) and Brewer (9-16; 56.3%). With Caldwell out, Bright has stepped up as the Tech PG. She is averaging 3.4 assists to lead the Lady Raiders in conference games. Four players average between 1.0 and 1.3 apg. The Lady Raiders are not a strong shot blocking team as Terry’s 0.9 bpg leads the team. They don’t steal the ball much either as only Blaire (1.0 spg) and Whilby (1.1 spg) average at least one steal a game. Terry is the leading rebounder at 11.5 rpg while Blaire (5.9 rpg) and DeGrate (4.0 rpg) provide support on the boards. Blaire and Terry have been the only two to start all seven Big 12 games. Bright has five starts; Whilby has four; Brewer has four and Sanders has three. The starting lineup the last three games has consisted of Bright, Blaire, Terry, Whilby and Zuri Sanders (#30, 6-0 Jr. F). Nine of the ten players have seen action in at least six of the games. Eight of those are averaging double digit minutes and can be considered the primary rotation. The two others in the rotation include Angel Hayden (#23, 5-8 Fr. G) and Ionna McKenzie (#42, 6-2 Sr. C). Whilby (26.9 mpg), Bright (26.0 mpg), Blaire (25.4 mpg) and Terry (24.1 mpg) are logging the most time on the court. TEXAS LONGHORNS Texas has three players among the top 30 scorers in conference games. LaShann (20.5 ppg) is second in the league. Ariel at 14.8 ppg is 13th. Brooke is tied at 21 with an average of 11.8 ppg. LaShann’s 67.2% FG percentage ranks second in league games. Both Ariel and Audrey-Ann have half of their shots. Ariel (7-21; 33.3%) and Brooke (4-27; 14.8%) lead the team in 3pt attempts. LaShann has the best percentage from BTA at 44.4% (8-18) among the four players that have taken at least ten three pters. Texas is shooting 76.1% from the FT line. This ranks them first in the Big 12, compared to their ranking of fifth for the season at 70.3%. The top four in FT attempts are all making at least 75% of their FTs: Alecia (9-12; 75.0%), LaShann (25-30; 83.3%), Ariel (12-13; 92.3%) and Brooke (13-14; 92.9%). The Horns rank second in the league in rebounding due to a team effort led by Ariel (7.3 rpg), Jatarie (6.5 rpg), Brooke (5.5 rpg) and Audrey-Ann (5.2 rpg). Four players have reached double digit assists in league play with Brooke’s 34 (5.7 apg; 2nd in the Big 12) leading the way. Ariel is next at 19 (3.2 apg). LaShann (12 assists; 2.0 apg) and Sug (10 assists; 1.7 apg) complete the quartet. Audrey-Ann has half the 26 blocks Texas has notched in Big 12 play, an average of 2.6 bpg in the five league games she has played in. Ariel is second with six blocks. Ariel (19 steals; 3.2 spg) and LaShann (15 steals; 2.5 spg) and Sug (6 steals; 1.0 spg) have combined for 40 of the 47 steals in league play. No other Horn has more than one steal in Big 12 games. Texas has had a stable lineup with LaShann, Ariel, Brooke and Jatarie starting all six league games. Audrey-Ann has started all five games she has been available for, missing the Kansas game due to an injury. Sug has one start in Big 12 play. Ten of the 14 players have seen action in at least five games. Eight average at least 10 mpg. The team leans heavily on Brooke (33.7 mpg), Ariel (31.3 mpg) and LaShann (27.0 mpg). Khaléann and Destiny have yet to play in a Big 12 game due to lingering injuries while Rellah has not played since the KSU game on 01/07/18. PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS-- Projected starting lineups are based on the last game played. Tech had trouble stopping the dribble penetration of Kansas once the Jayhawks started to do that late in the game. Can’t really see Tech stopping Brooke, LaShann, Ariel or Sug from penetrating and either finishing or kicking it out to an open player. Tech starts Terry but has paired her with DeGrate (6-6) or the 6-5 Brewer to increase their size in the post. All three have good post moves inside with DeGrate and Brewer better at finishing inside. Still, only Brewer has the speed to run with Texas. Audrey-Ann and Jatarie should be able to beat their defender down the court when Texas gets a defensive rebound. Tech is going to have problems with the quickness and speed of the Horns’ frontcourt on both ends. But the size and height of the Tech posts will challenge the Horns. They will provide a bit smaller preview of the size of the Baylor posts, especially when Tech plays DeGrate and Terry together. Team stats are for Big 12 games only. Texas, assuming no hangover from the UConn game on Monday, should easily take care of Tech. The Lady Raiders during the last three games have steadily improved culminating with their first Big 12 over Kansas on Wednesday night. Although the Lady Raiders lost to ISU, they won the rebounding battle and slowed the game down. A similar game plan won for them against Kansas. They will slow the game down, play tough defense and try to win the rebounding battle. Tech will come into this game with renewed confidence. One could call this a trap game with Baylor looming next week. Texas will have five days after this game to prepare for Baylor. Texas has won the last four games against Tech by about a 20 point advantage. This game should be no different and should allow the freshmen a chance to gain some extended minutes, even that is only Chasity if the other two are not ready. The game will be Saturday, January 20 at 3 PM in the United Supermarkets Arena. It will be televised on FSN and carried on 105.3 FM. http://texassports.com/news/2018/1/19/no-9-womens-basketball-preview-texas-tech.aspx
last Lady Raider game I watched on TV, it seemed like there were 3-4 hundred in the stands, if that. Wonder if they will give the banners to Horns fans if any want them. http://texastech.com/news/2018/1/19/lady-raiders-to-face-no-9-9-texas-on-saturday.aspx Tech is going to be fired up, especially coming off that first win. http://lubbockonline.com/sports/news/sports-red-raiders/2018-01-19/lady-raiders-face-no-9-texas-renewed-confidence
Blurb in the Statesman today that Khaleann has been cleared to play. Really hoping to see Rellah and Destiny play today. If they don't play, then no hope of them playing against Baylor next Thursday, IMO.
Is Sug suited up? I think I saw her on the bench in sweats. Hopefully just a precautionary measure. It also doesn't look like Rellah made the trip.
Sug is usually first off the bench, so I'm guessing she isn't playing. I haven't seen Rellah on the bench either. Ugh.
With Rellah not making the trip I have to wonder what is really going on. My heart is telling me that theres a looming transfer, but why keep her on the bench suited up etc. So my head is telling me theres an injury but I feel like it would've been talked about in some form
44-19 Texas at the half. Started slow, but really cranked up the defense and transition game. Only led by 6 points a the half. 25-6 second quarter.
maybe Jaime got hurting practicing? Hoping Sug will be back for Baylor. Meanwhile, nice to see Chasity getting some early minutes. Another half with good minutes from Joyner. Nice to see the Horns putting the hammer down in the second half defensively. Now, need them to do the same in the second half.
Damn in regards to Rellah. We need all the size and strength of Jatarie, Audrey-Anne, Joyner, and Rellah to battle Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox of Baylor.
looks like it will be Audrey-Ann, Jatarie, Joyner and Jordan against Kalani, Lauren and Cohen inside although Cohen usually starts at SF.
Happy for the win, but... We committed 18 turnovers Our 3 point game still not good (3-11/27%) Shocked that Patterson isn’t making more shots (1-5)
Re: TOs. If my math is correct, Texas had 11 through 3 quarters - racked up 7 during the 4th with a lot of reserves in the game.
not worried about the TOs. Joyner had six. Five of the team's TOs were in the fourth quarter by the bench when play got a bit ragged. I agree about our 3pt shooting. It is bad considering we got two of the top 13 3pt shooters in league play, not including Brooke who was in a bad slump earlier in conference play and is not among the leaders at this point. Chasity has a sweet looking shot. Hopefully, as she continues to get more PT, her shot will start to fall.
Our three's are a worry. The problem with Rellah continues. It is disturbing. Why the secrecy? I've often heard announced that players were not playing because of a violation of team rules. If that's the case, why not say so? I doubt it's injury, since we heard the term "coach's decision" earlier, and injured players generally travel along. It seems like punishment to me. I'm going to try not to post about it again. Destiny is also a bit of a mystery. All we (I) ever heard was the term "banged up" several weeks ago. She looks okay. Patterson's transition to the college game hasn't looked good yet, recalling her high school record and great shooting in the McDonald's contest. It was fun to see the horns run, but not much of a learning experience, like UConn was. Was nice to see Khaleann back on the floor.
Patterson mystifies me. Prolific scorer. Won the McDonald's All American three point contest. Scored well in both all star games. In college, she can't hit the side of the gym. Terrible decisions on most of her drives----right into traffic. I get the feeling she's rushing things, but honestly nerves shouldn't last this long. Anybody know her three point percentage in high school? I never thought, given the three we recruited, that none of them would even be on the floor much in league play.
My point is that 18 turnovers against Tech is bad regardless of the final score, but do that against another team and it would most likely be a loss. My post was clear and I didn’t think I would need to spell it out.
Well I have said before that we don’t really have a deep bench if we can’t go deep. We shouldn’t expect that many turnovers from any lineup. When we go deep into our bench we are still talking about McD AAs and the nation’s top recruits. On many other teams they would be starters. They should be playing better than this.
And as I said, maybe they would’ve won by 70 instead of 51. Texas is and has always been a high turnover team under Coach Aston and they’ll continue to be that. It’s also interesting that even though they turn the ball over a lot I saw a stat that said they lead the nation in possessions per game.
Chasity’s 3 point percentages: Freshman: 34% on 210 attempts Sophomore: 40% on 247 Junior: 39% on 325 Senior: 39% on 257 TOTAL: 38% on 1,039 She has more than enough attempts to say that the 38% is legit. She had such a quickness advantage in high school that players gave her a bit of cushion in fear of the drive. I’d guess it’s a matter of settling in, getting more minutes and finding her groove. Big 12 coaches saw a lot of her out recruiting the Houston area and saw enough to name her preseason Big 12 FOTY knowing full well she was going to be stuck behind Brooke and Sug so I wouldn’t start worrying yet.
