KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - No. 16 Louisiana Tech opened up the 2002-03 women's basketball season with a 85-76 upset of No. 7 Texas Tech at the State Farm Tip-Off Classic Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn.
New Lady Techster head coach Kurt Budke and company surprised a national television audience with its 85-76 win over the Lady Raiders (0-1) behind a career-high tying 24 points and 15 rebounds from senior center Cheryl Ford.
"It all starts with our four returners, and our four returners start with Cheryl Ford," Budke said. "There are going to be a lot of people who have put Plenette Pierson on their preseason All-American teams and she is very deserving, but they had better throw Cheryl Ford's name in there too."
In a career-high 37 minutes of action, Ford hit 10 of 15 shots from the field while also pulling down eight offensive rebounds. Many times throughout the contest, the 6-foot-3-inch Ford dominated the Lady Raiders post players.
Ford said Tech's preseason No. 16 ranking, the lowest to start a season since 1992, inspired the entire Lady Techster team.
"That's all I was thinking of the whole game," Ford said. "I kept saying that people have underestimated us. I told the team that we had to take it to (Texas Tech) and that we could do this. I am so proud of this team."
The win was definitely a team effort as sophomore Erica Smith added 17 points and eight rebounds, junior Trina Frierson overcame first half foul trouble to add 16 points and 11 rebounds and junior Amber Obaze added 13 points and four steals. The four returning letter winners combined for 70 of the 85 points.
After Texas Tech jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes, the Lady Techsters responded and grabbed their first lead of the game at 6-5 on aSmith put back a the 16:31 mark of the first half. The next five minutes saw both teams exchange leads before a Smith eight-foot jump shot gave the Lady Techsters a lead they would never relinquish.
Tech built an 11-point first half lead before the Lady Raiders make a valiant comeback to tie the score at 46 with 17:38 left in the game. However, a pair of Frierson free throws regained the advantage and the Lady Techsters would never trail again.
For the game, the Lady Techsters hit 26 of 31 free throws for 84 percent while also shooting 43 percent from the field.