Injuries, defeats challenge Texas Tech Lady Raiders overcome loss of key players

For many basketball teams, losing two key players in a season might spell disaster. Not the Texas Tech women, who lost a preseason All-America pick and a key post player to injuries, but still managed to gain a No. 4 seed for the NCAA tournament.

The Lady Raiders will face No. 13 Maine in a first-round game Saturday at 9 p.m. EST in Missoula, Mont.

Texas Tech takes a 24-7 overall record into the game against the Black Bears. The Raiders were 10-6 in the Big 12 Conference and are coming off two losses, including one to Baylor in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

But given the way her team has handled adversity this year, coach Marsha Sharp isn’t bothered by the two losses.

“They really have responded fairly well to adversity and losing a game here and there,” said Sharp, who is in her 21st season coaching the Raiders and led the team to the NCAA championship in 1993.

“We’re about as ready as we can get,” she added. “I think the Big 12 Conference gets us ready to face anything in the tournament.”

The first blow to the Raiders’ season was losing senior guard Jia Perkins, who left the program for medical reasons. Perkins, a first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2003 and a honorable mention on two preseason All-America teams, had played in all 16 games to that point and was leading the Raiders with 16.5 points per game.

Perkins left Jan. 17, when Texas Tech had the No. 2 ranking in the nation.

About one month later, center Cisti Greenwalt’s season ended when she fractured her right ankle. The 6-foot-5 junior had played in all 26 games and was averaging 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game to go with 57 blocks.

“I don’t think there’s any question [losing Perkins] affected us, particularly for a couple of weeks the wheels came off,” Sharp said. “We had to regroup, come back and try to put things back together. … I’ll just say I think our players have really handled it well.”

Indeed, four days after losing Greenwalt the Raiders logged a 62-49 victory over Texas, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

But Texas Tech also has been inconsistent in the last three weeks, with a win over Colorado and losses to Oklahoma, Kansas State in the last game of the regular season, and Baylor in the tournament.

“I think honestly we maybe have taken a look at our situation and tweaked things a little, which is maybe what happens when you lose a couple of games in a row,” Sharp said. “I still have confidence in what we’re about and what we can do.”

That’s because the younger players who have stepped in have looked, well, sharp lately.

The veteran coach has been pleased with the play of 6-foot freshman guard Alesha Robertson (12.3 ppg), 6-foot sophomore forward Chelsea Dabbs (1.4 assists per game), and 5-8 sophomore point guard Erin Grant (8.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6.7 apg), a finalist for the Lieberman Award given to the top Division I point guard in the nation.

Robertson and Natalie Ritchie (6.6 ppg) are also 3-point threats.

“We’re pretty balanced, we do a little inside, a little outside,” Sharp said. “We don’t have one big scorer. We have some young players who continue to get better.”

The Lady Raiders like man-to-man defense and will pressure the ball. They also like to mix up their post defense, which Sharp thinks will help against America East Player of the Year Heather Ernest, Maine’s 6-2 senior forward.

Ernest will have to contend with 5-11 senior Casey Jackson, who leads Texas Tech with 6.3 rpg, as well as 6-1 sophomore LaToya Davis (7.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and 6-2 senior Jolee Ayers-Curry (4.2 rpg).

The Lady Raiders are sixth in the country in rebounding margin (8.7), ninth in average scoring margin (17.0 points) and ninth in turnovers per game (9).