Texas Tech University Athletics
No. 8 Lady Raiders Travel To Southern Miss
December 26, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 26, 2002
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Saturday's Game
No. 8/10 Texas Tech (7-1) will take on Southern Miss (6-4) at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Miss., at 3 p.m. The game can be heard on the All Sports Radio Network with Ryan Hyatt calling the game.
The Lady Raiders
Texas Tech is 7-1 on the year after beating Hawai'i, 67-40, in the championship game of the Ala Moana Hotel Paradise Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i Dec. 21. On the year, senior Plenette Pierson leads the team in scoring with a 17.9 average followed by junior Jia Perkins at 17.6. Pierson is the top rebounder, grabbing 6.3 boards per outing. Sophomore Cisti Greenwalt is shooting 58.8 percent from the field. Junior Miklannet Tennal is shooting 41.2 percent from three-point range, while junior Natalie Ritchie is shooting 36.8 percent. Grant has a team high of 59 assists, while Perkins leads the team in steals with 22. Greenwalt is the top shot blocker with 35 blocks. The Lady Raiders are shooting 48 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from three-point range and 64.9 percent from the free throw line.
Scouting the Opponent
Southern Miss enters the game with a 6-4 record after losing at McNeese State, 51-48, Dec. 20. In that game juniors Lana Lewis and Tierra Lassiter and senior La'Tasha Sumerall each scored eight points. Senior Dana Jones grabbed six rebounds, while senior Jessica Woods tallied three assists. Lassiter added two blocks.
On the year, Jones paces the Lady Golden Eagles in scoring with an 11.6 average. Senior Sonja Brown is the top rebounder with an 8.3 average. Junior Marlena Lee has a team-high 32 steals, while Sumerall leads the team in steals with 12. Brown is the top shot blocker with 37 blocks. Southern Miss is shooting 40.5 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from the three-point arc and 62.4 percent from the charity stripe.
Rick Reeves is in his fourth year at the helm of the Lady Golden Eagles establishing a record of 46-50. He is also in his 17th year as a head coach with a career record of 245-214.
Series Record
The series is tied at 1-1 after Texas Tech beat Southern Miss, 95-34, last year (12-16-01) in Lubbock. The Lady Golden Eagles won the first meeting, 79-76, Dec. 16, 1995 at the Oakland Tribune Classic.
Last Year vs. Southern Miss
Dec. 16, 2001 - Casey Jackson scored a career-high 19 points and No. 12 Texas Tech scored the first 23 points of the game before coasting to a 95-34 victory over Southern Mississippi.
Amber Tarr finished with 16 points for the Lady Raiders, while Jia Perkins added 14. All 12 Texas Tech players scored. Cisti Greenwalt grabbed 11 rebounds.
Sonja Brown had eight points for Southern Mississippi, which shot 19.3 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles' first point of the game came on a free throw by Kelly Parkerson with 12:54 remaining in the first half. Parkerson, who finished with four points, also had the Golden Eagles' first field goal, a 3-pointer that cut Texas Tech's lead to 26-6 with 11:25 left in the first half.
Texas Tech led 48-18 at halftime.
A Look Ahead
Texas Tech finishes the 2002 year with a game at Rice Dec. 30. The Lady Raiders will start 2003 with two home games against Rutgers Jan. 2 and Pacific Jan. 5. Tech will tip-off the Big 12 Conference season on Jan. 8 at Texas A&M and return home on Jan. 11 to face Baylor.
Lady Raider Head Coach Marsha Sharp
One of the most respected and well-known coaches in Texas Tech history, head coach Marsha Sharp is 486-154 in her 21st year at the helm of the Lady Raiders. Entering the 2002-03 season, Sharp was the seventh active winningest coach among Division I coaches. She has led the Lady Raiders to 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 13 consecutive, and nine NCAA Sweet 16 and three Elite Eight appearances and the NCAA National Championship in 1993. Sharp led the Lady Raiders to three-straight Big 12 Conference regular-season titles (1998-2000) and two tournament crowns (1998, 1999). While in the SWC, coach Sharp and the Lady Raiders never finished below third, they won or shared the last five championships, and they captured three Post-Season Classic titles.
Sharp was also the head coach of the 2002 USA Basketball World Championship For Young Women Qualifying Team, which won the gold medal in Brazil.
A 1974 graduate of Wayland Baptist University, Sharp was named the National Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1994. She also reaped SWC Coach of the Year honors seven times, five consecutively.
On the Road in December
Texas Tech will play five of its seven games in December on the road. Tech traveled to Wyoming Dec. 14 and played two games in Hawai'i Dec. 20-21 before the Christmas break. The Lady Raiders will conclude 2002 with games at Southern Miss Dec. 28 and at Rice Dec. 30.
Pierson, Perkins Hit 1,000 Mark
Senior Plenette Pierson has now scored 1,121 points in her career at Texas Tech, which ranks 15th all-time. Standing in 14th is Jill Owens (1975-79) with 1,130. Junior Jia Perkins has scored 1,0895 points at Tech, which is 16th on the career points' list.
Pierson, Perkins in Double Digits Again
Senior Plenette Pierson and junior Jia Perkins continue to score in double figures as Pierson had 16 points and Perkins 14 at Hawai'i. Perkins has scored in double figures in all eight games, while Pierson has been in double digits on seven occasions.
