GAME INFORMATION

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2016
Time: 7:00 pm CST
Our Team: Lady Raiders (9-3, 0-1 Big12)
Opponent: Texas Longhorns (12-0, 1-0 Big12)
Location: “The USA” | Lubbock, Texas
TV/Stream: Longhorn Network
Radio/Stream: 107.7 FM / 950 AM Lubbock / 104.9 FM Austin
Live Stats: SideArm Stats

The Lady Raiders (9-3, 0-1 Big12) could have won their fist Conference game this season but the Lady Raiders fell apart in the 4th Quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs (9-3, 1-0) on Wednesday, Dec 30, 2016. Tech was wining at the half by 8 points and at the end of the 3rd Quarter still had a 3-point lead but the 4th Quarter was all TCU and Tech just failed to respond. In the 4th Quarter, Tech allowed four steals from TCU followed by lay-ups resulting in points for the Horned Frogs. Tech allowed 27 points from the TCU bench in the 2nd half compared to only 2 points from the Tech bench. Tech failed to make any 3-point plays in the 2nd half and allowed the Frogs four 3-ptrs.

Head Coach Candi Whitaker on her opening statement in the post game presser:

Opening Statement
“I thought we played really well at times. We got a pretty good lead and then missed a lot of easy shots around the rim. We weren’t able to convert and then fell apart in transition defense, and TCU was making layup after layup. I have to give TCU credit, they never went away, continued to run and unfortunately I feel like we really gave this one away. We had every opportunity to win this game, but had some breakdowns that can’t happen when you’re playing a great team.”
On a lack of poise late…
“I could feel that, which is why I burned all of my time outs. Shots don’t go, we’re getting layups and they’re not going in, and then we run to the other end and they made three layups in a row. We came out of a time out and the same thing happened. We missed a layup and then they ran to the other end and made another layup. We have to find ways to stop runs, have enough focus to finish through contact, and have better urgency, communication, and the ability to stop the basketball. We also need to sprint, we started flagging rebounders and that hurt us in transition. We usually don’t do that. There were a few out of character things that occurred from our team. We need to learn to have a presence about us when things aren’t going our way.”

Today the Lady Raiders take on the #5 Texas Longhorns (12-0, 1-0 Big12) at 7pm CST at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX. This game will be the first road conference game for Tech and also the first ranked team of the 2015-16 season. This will be the 95th meeting in the history of the two programs. The Red Raiders are the Longhorns’ most frequent opponent in program history. Texas leads the all-time series between the two teams 65-29. The Lady Raiders have not beat the Longhorns since 2013. I am hoping that the loss against TCU woke the Lady Raiders up. Tech needs to play cohesively and not make mistakes. The Lady Raiders need to limit their fouls and they need to be accurate in their attempts on the basket. Tech is slightly stronger at the 3-Pt range and we need to take advantage of that strength.

Focus on the game at hand

Get the Win ….. Wreck’Em !!!!

Improvement is the word this season.