Lady Raiders host Oral Roberts, poised to increase winning streak with good passing
Krista Gerlich is a fan of the extra pass.
And the second-year Texas Tech women’s basketball coach hopes her players become fond of that portion of the game.
So far, the Lady Raiders have bought into improving their efforts on the defensive end — forcing 68 turnovers in the last three games — but need to focus on perfecting the offensive flow with four games left before the start of the Big 12 Conference schedule.
And while Texas Tech has created offense with those turnovers, the Lady Raiders have not been able to engineer big offensive runs due to miscues — notching 46 assists to 40 turnovers in the same three-game span.
With all that in mind, Texas Tech is set to take on Oral Roberts in a 7 p.m. Wednesday contest inside United Supermarkets Arena.
”Just passing up good shots to get to great shots,” Gerlich said of the mindset she wants from her squad. ”I think this team is capable of really getting some high-percentage shots. And that could be a three-point shot for us. And I feel we can really set each other up for that.
“I really hope that we’ll just continue to search for better shots throughout our offensive possessions.”
The Lady Raiders (8-1), winners of their last seven games, will need to put an emphasis on putting the ball in the basket Wednesday night against a diverse Oral Roberts squad that touts four players in double figures.
Hannah Cooper, a former standout for El Paso Andress, has led the way for the Eagles (3-7) who are closing out nonconference play with a trip to Lubbock. The 5-foot-7 guard is averaging 19.3 points to go with 4.8 rebounds per game.
And she has help from 6-foot post Tirzah Moore (13.1 points, 10.9 rebounds), and guards Ariel Walker (11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds) and Ruthie Udoumoh (11.3 points, 4.0 rebounds).
“I think we need to get it (the ball) out of her hands — I think that’s part of it,” Gerlich said of the gameplan against Oral Roberts’ Cooper, who scored 26 points in a win over Abilene Christian last Sunday. ”She does such a good job in their dribble-drive offense around that high-post pick.
“We have to make sure that we keep her in front of us and not let her get down the hill on us. … I think that’ll help us, but we’ve got to play solid defense and know and be aware of when she has the basketball.”
One positive for the Lady Raiders is players getting healthy — including posts Katie Ferrell and Jojo Nworie.
“I believe everybody is healthy except for Jojo (Nworie) — she’s coming along though,” Gerlich said of her squad and Nworie, who’s dealing with an undisclosed injury. ”She’s starting some individual workouts with us, which is fantastic. And that’s going to be a work in progress for her.”
That’s a good sign for Texas Tech, which has been able to mix-and-match its lineups while waiting for several players to return to the court and rotations — including Katie Ferrell, who’s underwent surgery on her right hand is building up her game shape since tallying 13 minutes in her return back on Dec. 6 against Sam Houston.
That contest marked the first game action Ferrell had been apart of since logging 24 minutes against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the regular season opener.
Having another post will only help the Lady Raiders combat with some of the physical posts from Oral Roberts. That may not be an issue if Texas Tech can find open shooters such as Rhyle McKinney (13.6 points), Bailey Maupin (13.4 points), Bre’Amber Scott (11.1 points) or Bryn Gerlich (7.3 points).
McKinney, Maupin and Gerlich are shooting 44% and better from the three-point line this season. If that gets going early, the Lady Raiders could be looking at their eighth straight win and a chance to head into conference with a ton of momentum.
“We’ve been talking about stacking success and learning how to continue to get better and not be complacent,” Krista Gerlich said. ”I think that’s my biggest fear as a coach is that you get complacent and that you play maybe to the level of your competition or that you’re not really pushing yourself to be really efficient with the basketball.
“This is that opportunity during December on our schedule, it’s an opportunity for us to stack wins and stack success. But we’ve got to continue to grow and prepare or Big 12 play because it’s going to be a grind when we get there.”
TEXAS TECH VS. ORAL ROBERTS
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: United Supermarkets Arena
Records: Texas Tech 8-1, Oral Roberts 3-7
Online stream: ESPN+
Radio: FM 107.7
Live coverage: Follow @NathanGiese on Twitter for up-to-date information.
Fast fact(s): The Lady Raiders have forced 68 turnovers in the last three games. In that same span, Texas Tech has dished out 46 assists and turned the ball over 40 times.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lady Raiders host Oral Roberts, poised to increase winning streak with good passing
