Second Half Surge Leads Tech To Win Over Lamar
By: Travis Cram - Texas Tech University
Updated: December 1, 2012
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Christine Hyde scored a career-high 25 points to lead three Lady Raiders in double digits
as Texas Tech overcame a 10-point, first-half deficit to beat Lamar, 73-52 on Saturday at United Spirit Arena.
Tech (6-1) outscored Lamar 45-18 in the second half, including a 19-6 run out of the break to take the lead
for good.
"I
just liked our toughness, and we had adversity. Adversity is all about
how you handle it," Tech head coach
Kristy Curry said. "It's not anything we were really doing bad. You know
sometimes that's the way the game goes and you just have to stay
together and weather it. It's a game of runs and we thought if we could
stay together and get it to six or four at half,
we would have a chance at second half. I like the way our kids played
the second half."
Lamar
(5-2) used its outside shooting to jump ahead from the whistle, hitting
8 of 14 from outside the arc
to grab a 34-24 lead with 1:10 left before the break. Kalis Loyd and
Carenn Baylor combined for five of the eight 3-pointers and 21 points in
the first half.
But then Tech turned up its defense.
"I
think the coaches were just reiterating at half time to get up into
them and pressure them and we had
to make adjustments," senior guard Casey Morris, who had 13 points,
seven rebounds and five assists. "That's part of maturity is adjusting.
After the first half wasn't going our way, we wanted to adjust and make
sure we pressured up and made them uncomfortable."
And
Lamar was certainly uncomfortable. Loyd and Baylor went a combined
0-for-5 from the field and had just a pair
of free throws between them in the second half asTech forced 14
turnovers - 21 overall - and outscored Lamar 26-0 on points off
turnovers.
In the meantime, Lamar had no answer for Hyde.
Tech built a 57-48 lead before pulling away for good in the final five minutes, as Hyde accounted for 11 of Tech's
final 16 points. And she was once again a leader on the boards, grabbing seven rebounds.
"I feel like defense always leads to our offense and we came," Hyde said. "We were communicating on the court, and
the more we communicate, the more chemistry we have on defense and that leads into offense."
The Lady Raiders held their fifth opponent under 55 points this season and now await Big Ten foe Illinois (4-3) for
a 7 p.m. CT tip off on Wednesday in the first telecast on FOX Sports this season.
