Curry Era Begins With Exhibition Win

By Jay Langley - Special to KLBK.com (Lubbock)- For many of the fans gathered at the United Spirit Arena, Texas Techs 73-56 exhibition victory over the Houston Jaguars was the first opportunity to lay their eyes on new Lady Raider head coach Kristy Curry. Curry said she was excited to take the court for the first time in Lubbock. "It was a great feeling," she said. "I cant put into words how honored we are to continue the tradition that Coach Sharp has put into place. We are going to work relentlessly to not let these folks down." The Lady Raiders took immediate control of the game opening on a 17-2 run. Houston did not score their second field goal until nine minutes remaining the first half. The Jaguars shot 33 percent from the floor in the game. Despite her teams defensive effort, Curry said there are still a lot of questions about her team. "When you only have 14 days of practice you can tell," she said. "The room for improvement is the biggest room in the house. We played a lot of people and I think that got us a little out of sink because of the different combinations. Right now were just trying to figure out who our 8 or ten are and how deep we can go." For the game no Lady Raider played more than 27 minutes with nine players getting at least ten minutes on the court. The game was significant for senior guard Chesley Dabbs who took the court for the first time in over nine months. Dabbs missed the 2005-06 season after tearing her ACL and medial meniscus in her left knee. "I think it felt good for all of us to get back and play someone other than our practice players and each other," Dabbs said. "But for me being off for almost a year it was really exciting." Senior forward Alesha Robertson led the squad in scoring with 17 points on 6-12 from the floor. "I think at the beginning we had kind of a hard time getting started," Robertson said. "I think thats typical being the first game. We finally got things rolling (in the second half). Were trying to get all the new plays down. That stuff will come but I think we gained a lot of confidence tonight." Techs biggest lead of the game was 20, but in the second half Houston cut the lead to nine before Curry decided to put her starting five of Dabbs, Robertson, Erin Myrick, Darrice Griffin and Brooke Baughman back into the contest. Robertson scored ten of Techs last 14 points to lead the Lady Raiders to the 17-point victory. "I thought it was a typical exhibition game," Curry said. "In two weeks of practice it was a little bit of the good, the bad and the ugly, but thats what exhibitions about. But I was very pleased with the effort, the energy, the intensity and the want to do well. I think we were very pleased on how hard they competed." The Lady Raiders next take the court against Athletes in Action Sunday at the USA for their second and final exhibition of the season.