Staying consistent: Lady Raiders poised to continue winning streak, host McNeese State

Bre’Amber Scott has made a huge difference for the Texas Tech women’s basketball.

An easy way to quantify her value could be by wins and losses, considering the Lady Raiders have won eight straight games since the senior was inserted into the starting lineup — whether at the No. 3 or 4 spot — during that span.

The 5-foot-11 guard provided her best games as a Lady Raider by pouring in 24 points, including a quartet of a 3-pointers, to help Texas Tech down Oral Roberts 82-68 last Wednesday.

Those two statistics were Scott’s best donning a Lady Raiders uniform and occurred after she drove into the paint and a hard tumble that left her grabbing at her tailbone. That wasn’t enough to keep her off the floor, especially after missing so much time rehabilitating an injured foot most of last season.

"All week in practice. ... our coaches and my teammates just poured a lot of confidence in me so I didn't pass up the open shots that I did in our last game, so I was just playing with confidence," Scott said following the ORU victory last week.

The same bravado has been displayed by Scott’s teammates, as well, as Texas Tech is in the midst of its largest winning streak this season at eight games.

The Lady Raiders (9-1) will look to continue their winning ways when hosting McNeese State (3-7) at 7 p.m. Monday as part of an eight-game, month-long homestand that includes the Big 12 Conference opener against Iowa State.

Prior to that big matchup, Texas Tech will focus on its third opponent from the Southland Conference — dispatching Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Incarnate Word earlier this season.

Paris Mullins (12.3 points, 3.2 rebounds) and Kaili Chamberlin (10.0 points. 3.5 rebounds) lead the attack, while Stephanie Guihon also chips in nine points per contest for McNeese State. Mullins, who has played in six of the team’s 10 games, is a forward while Chamberlin and Guihon are listed as guards.

The Cowgirls are looking to bounce back following a 79-60 road loss to Ole Miss on Saturday. In that contest, McNeese State led 21-14 after the first quarter, but was outscored 65-39 the rest of the way.

The Lady Raiders will need to get off to a strong start offensively, while also taking care of the basketball — a facet that’s been difficult for the squad this season, averaging 15.9 per contest.

Despite forcing opponents to turn the ball over 84 times in the last four games, including 16 against Oral Roberts, Texas Tech has turned it over 59 times — which counts 19 against Oral Roberts. The frustrating portion of that stat, from a coaching perspective, is that the Lady Raiders committed a season-low eight in the first contest of that span — a Dec. 1 win over Alabama State — before racking up 14 or more turnovers the next three games.

"We're still turning the basketball over too much and just doing some things that look a little bit like we're young," Texas Tech coach Krista Gerlich said after the ORU win last week. "We're playing some young kids, and I feel like we're turning the basketball over some when we're in different spots, but overall I thought that our kids really dug deep and they played hard and they got the win, so proud of them for that."

The grit has been a calling card, and identity built in since the introduction of Gerlich as the head coach. So has the addition of a consistent scoring offense — which was not displayed against Oral Roberts.

That’s where having a scorer like Scott — who was playing in her eighth game, as many as she logged the prior season due to a foot injury — can pay huge dividends.

Leading scorer Rhyle McKinney, who netted 15 points against Oral Roberts, has been another offensive threat at 13.7 points per game. But, the Lady Raiders need more — especially from freshman and second-leading scorer Bailey Maupin (12.9 points per game) who earned a spot in the starting lineup back on Nov. 20. She was penciled in at the No. 2 or 3 spot before coming off the bench and tallying eight points against Oral Roberts last week.

Maupin, a standout of out Gruver, Texas, scored 27, 17 and 11 against Mercer (Nov. 26), Alabama State (Dec. 1) and Incarnate Word (Dec. 4), respectively, before totaling 12 points in her last two contests. Gaining consistent scoring from center Jazmaine Lewis, who is averaging 9.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, would also alleviate some of the offensive load.

"... We have to continue to grow and get better, but at the same time, I'm just happy to be out there with my teammates and be able to play," Scott said last Wednesday. "It's my senior year and I'm having fun and I'm enjoying it and I'm just happy to have the opportunity to do that."

TEXAS TECH VS. MCNEESE STATE

When: 7 p.m. Monday

Where: United Supermarkets Arena

Records: Texas Tech 9-1, McNeese State 3-7

Online stream: ESPN+

Radio: FM 107.7

Fast fact(s): After recording her first career double-double last Tuesday, Bre’Amber Scott followed it up eight days later by scoring 24 points in just 25 minutes on just 14 total shots to help Texas Tech down Oral Roberts. … Katie Ferrell needs two assists to reach 500 for her career.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Bre’Amber Scott, Lady Raiders poised to continue wining streak, host McNeese State