The Texas Tech Lady Raider basketball team took on Texas Christian University Sunday afternoon and came out on top with a final score of 53-42.
Chynna Brown led the Lady Raiders to victory with 23 points, a career high for Brown. Brown also obtained her first career double-double, with 12 rebounds and 23 points.
Head coach Kristy Curry said she thinks Brown always does everything she can to help her team be successful.
“She just comes out being aggressive, and she wants the basketball in her hands,” Curry said. “I’m just excited for her and happy for her, she has worked so hard.”
Brown said Coach Curry told her to be ready to shoot the ball.
“Coach said be ready and don’t hesitate,” Brown said, “but I know I wouldn’t have even had those points without my teammates getting me the ball.”
The Lady Raiders played a strong offensive and defensive game, and several other players were instrumental in the victory. Kelsi Baker and Casey Morris had 8 points each, and Christine Hyde had 7 points.
Texas Tech point guard Monique Smalls said she thinks the Lady Raiders are a very aggressive defensive team.
“During the first half defense was kind of difficult, especially for myself, because of the foul situation,” Smalls said. “But the second half nobody was in foul trouble and nobody was hurt, so we said let’s go attack them, and that’s what we did.”
Smalls said being the point guard and having the opportunity to feed the ball to Brown has been lovely.
“I mean, my assists are just racking up,” Smalls said. “But it’s great to see these things happen for our outside perimeters who work so hard at practice every day.”
Jeff Mittle, head coach at TCU, said he thought the Lady Raiders played well defensively.
“Tech puts a lot of pressure on the perimeter, and we knew that coming in,” he said. “Our guards struggled against that, but I thought it was a hotly-contested game.”
Mittle said he knew Brown was a hot shooter coming into the game, and he thinks her five offensive rebounds played a big role in the outcome.
“I think Brown is playing very well right now,” he said. “But we made them miss enough, there’s no doubt about that. Our defense was decent, but they just cleaned it up and got second and third chances at the basket with their rebounds.”
Coach Curry said she thinks the Lady Raiders out-worked their opponents.
“It wasn’t our best shooting day at the foul line,” she said, “but it’s just a matter of finding a way to win, and that’s what we did.”
The Lady Raiders will take on Baylor University on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the United Spirit Arena. Curry said her players are always looking forward to and preparing for their next game.
“The thing about this team is they have been through this league and understand what it takes to win,” she said.
“They know what got us to this point, and they know what didn’t get us to this point,” Curry said. “I’m just so proud of the leadership we have and their mindset every day.”
About Morgan Crump
Great article Ms Crump.