It has been an up-and-down season for both Texas Tech and St. John's, but both teams seem to be hitting their stride entering the NCAA tournament.
The eighth-seeded Lady Raiders and ninth-seeded Red Storm meet for the first time Saturday in a Spokane Regional first-round game at Maples Pavilion.
Texas Tech (22-10) opened this season winning 16 of 17, including a 3-0 start in Big 12 play, but went on to lose their next six contests. The Lady Raiders have since won six of nine, including a 56-45 victory over then-No. 1 ranked Baylor on Feb. 19, and are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005.
St. John's (21-10) has had a similar season. The Red Storm won 12 of its first 13 before enduring a four-game skid. They've only lost five times in 14 games since, earning a second straight trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1983-84.
"I feel that the games in January were a wakeup call," said senior Centhya Hart, who averages 8.4 points and 5.6 rebounds. "We really wanted to come back to the NCAA tournament and those games woke us up and we really turned it up a notch."
St. John's has turned it up defensively in its last 14 games, allowing an average of 57.9 points on 39.1 percent shooting. The Red Storm had surrendered an average of 75.8 points during their skid.
The Lady Raiders also have stepped it defensively during their late-season push. They're allowing an average of 59.2 points in the last nine after yielding 67.8 per game during their slide.
Texas Tech's offense is led by junior Kierra Mallard, who averages 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds. The Lady Raiders are 14-4 when Mallard scores at least 12.
"Texas Tech is going to be an incredibly difficult matchup," St. John's coach Kim Barnes Arico said. "They're a Big 12 program that really had a tremendous year this year. That's going to be a tough game."
The Red Storm will likely need a strong scoring performance from sophomore guard Shenneika Smith to advance to the second round for the second straight year. Smith averages a team-best 12.8 points, and St. John's is 15-1 when she scores at least 12.
"We got a chance to see what it was like last year so this year we want to take another step to the Sweet 16," Smith said. "We lost in the second round last year so this year we really want to play hard."
The winner of this game will face either top-seeded Stanford or UC-Davis on Monday.
