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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Texas Tech finished what Notre Dame
started Saturday.
|  | | Notre Dame's Kelley Siemon stumbles as she tries to get past Texas Tech's Keitha Dickerson. |
Aleah Johnson scored 18 points and Texas Tech rallied from a 17-0 deficit to beat Notre Dame 69-65 on Saturday in the NCAA Mideast Regional semifinals. The Lady Raiders answered that opening spurt with their own 17-0 run.
"I don't know if I've ever been in one that had that big a
point swing, particularly not at this level," Texas Tech coach
Marsha Sharp said. "You don't expect to have that many swings with
that large a deficit."
It helped that the Lady Raiders (28-4) fell behind 11-2 in their
second-round game against Tulane before pulling out a victory last
weekend. Melinda Schmucker-Pharies said they never panicked.
"We knew that no matter what, 17 down, we still had the whole
game ahead of us. We just had to come out and battle no matter
what," she said.
Third-seeded Texas Tech will play top-seeded Tennessee, a 77-56
winner over Virginia, on Monday for a spot in the Final Four. The
Lady Raiders advanced to their first regional championship since
1995.
Second-seeded Notre Dame (27-5) had won 23 of its last 25 games,
which helped the Fighting Irish to a No. 5 ranking. They also had a
decided height advantage inside thanks to All-American center Ruth
Riley.
Notre Dame even scored the first 17 points of the game and led
by as much as eight in the second half.
It wasn't enough.
The Lady Raiders pecked away at that lead with outside jumpers
and finally took the momentum when Riley got into foul trouble.
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Saturday, March
25
Texas Tech's defense is very underrated. Sure, the Raiders have had a few games
where their defense has slipped up, but they are keeping foes to 55 points per game.
Saturday, their defense was definitely a key element, forcing 25 turnovers and holding
Notre Dame's Niele Ivey and Alicia Ratay to only nine points and 1-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. That's a remarkable stat.
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"They never quit. They kept coming at us," Notre Dame coach
Muffet McGraw said of the Lady Raiders' pressing defense.
"They got us out of our offense, and I think mentally we got
out of the game. Mentally, we saw the pressure, and we just backed
down from it. That was a problem. We weren't able to execute."
Texas Tech tied the game at 46 on a 3-pointer by Melinda
Schmucker-Pharies midway through the half. Johnson then took over,
scoring eight of the next nine points. Her inside basket with 8:12
left gave the Lady Raiders their first lead of the game at 50-48.
Riley tied it at 50 but picked up her fourth foul seconds later.
Katrisa O'Neal hit a free throw, and Johnson scored twice for a
55-50 lead that Texas Tech never lost.
Pierson finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for Texas
Tech. Keitha Dickerson added 12, and Schmucker-Pharies had 11 and
seven assists.
Riley, who wound up fouling out of four Irish losses, wasn't
happy with some of the calls.
"I don't think I really fouled anybody. I think being 6-5 makes
it obvious when I do have contact, and maybe it makes it easier to
make calls like that," she said.
Notre Dame didn't get much help from Alicia Ratay, the Big
East's freshman of the year. She only had two points. Riley had 19
points before fouling out, and Danielle Green added 15. Julie
Henderson and Ericka Haney each had 10.
Riley jumpstarted Notre Dame with nine points in the Fighting
Irish's opening run, which was helped by seven turnovers by the
Lady Raiders in the first six minutes.
Texas Tech didn't score until 13:06 on a breakaway layup by
Pierson, and that woke up the Lady Raiders. They got back into the
game by scoring the next 15 and tying the game at 17 before Notre
Dame went back up and led 28-23 at halftime.
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Texas Tech NCAA Team Report
Notre Dame NCAA Team Report
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Keitha Dickerson pulls up for the jumper against Notre Dame.
avi: 1079 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Amber Tarr hits the 3-pointer against Notre Dame
avi: 1273 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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