Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Oregon State
Lady Raiders Pick Up Win No. 1
November 24, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2001
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Natalie Ritchie had a career game, but Texas Tech won because of its defense.
Ritchie scored 21 points and the eighth-ranked Lady Raiders withstood a late rally to defeat Oregon State 64-60 Saturday.
"We were great on the defensive end when we had our main kids in we were really strong defensively," Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said. "That's the reason we won."
Texas Tech shot only 40 percent (11-of-27) in the first half but shot 55 percent (15-of-27) in the second half. It also had 13 of its 20 turnovers in the first half.
"Part of the reason we struggled was Oregon State's defense," Sharp said. "We had to figure out where we were going to find our shots and we struggled early to get enough shots off.
"After we did that, we got into the flow of it and played well."
Plenette Pierson added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Raiders (1-1), playing their first game since Nov. 11.
Texas Tech never trailed after moving ahead 15-13 on a 3-pointer by Ritchie with 7:48 remaining in the first half. That keyed a 7-0 run that gave the Lady Raiders a 19-13 advantage, and the Beavers never came closer than four points thereafter.
Texas Tech led 62-42 with 2:49 remaining and appeared ready to coast home, but Felicia Ragland, the 2001 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year, led a furious comeback. She made 4-of-5 3-point shots in the final 1:06, the last of which came at the buzzer as OSU (2-2) outscored Texas Tech 18-2 down the stretch.
Ritchie was 5-for-8 on 3-pointers and established a career high in scoring for the second successive game. She had 16 points in Texas Tech's season-opening loss at Duke on Nov. 11.
Ragland led the Beavers with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven steals and senior center Ericka Cook added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Texas Tech scored the final four points of the first half for a 28-19 lead, the largest by either team in the first half.
OSU pulled within 34-30 on a 3-pointer by Ragland with 16:19 remaining, but Ritchie answered with a 3-pointer to ignite a 10-0 Lady Raider run that enabled them to establish their biggest lead to that point, 44-30 with 12:21 to play.
Ritchie had six points, Pierson four in the spurt. Texas Tech eventually led 62-42 on a free throw by Jia Perkins with 2:49 to play. However, after that it was only 2-for-7 from the foul line and had three turnovers to enable the Beavers to get back in the game.
Oregon State shot poorly until the final two minutes, when only two Texas Tech starters were still playing. Texas Tech held OSU to 41 percent (24-for-58) from the field and forced 21 turnovers.
