espnW Women's Basketball

DALLAS (AP) -- To clinch a victory, Texas Tech decided to jump on the back of LaToya Davis.

Perhaps Texas-Arlington should have tried that.

Everything else the Mavericks did was futile in trying to stop Davis, who had a career-high 26 points and 14 rebounds as fourth-seeded Texas Tech beat No. 13 seed Texas-Arlington 69-49 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.

"She took the game over," Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said.

Davis bullied undersized Texas-Arlington under the basket, backing down into the post with ease no matter what the Mavericks threw at her. She scored 19 of her points in the second half and shot 11-of-14 from the floor.

It was the first NCAA Tournament game in school history for Texas-Arlington, which knew it couldn't match the tradition or postseason experience of the Red Raiders' 18 tournament appearances.

Afterward, Texas-Arlington coach Donna Capps also realized her team couldn't match up in size, either.

"Their strength inside was a big advantage," Capps said. "They hit us with power and it was hard to battle back without that size."

Davis was given a standing ovation by a crowd dominated by Texas Tech fans, who watched Davis fall just one rebound shy of tying her career high in that category.

It was the 14th straight first-round victory for Texas Tech (23-7), which entered the tournament intent on returning to the Sweet 16, which it failed to reach last year for the first time in five years.

In its second-round game, the Red Raiders will face No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee, a team with much upset potential after knocking out fifth-seeded North Carolina State on Saturday.

Texas-Arlington (21-10) was led by Rola Ogunoye, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. She was 7-of-17 from the floor.

Ogunoye kept Texas-Arlington close to start the game, scoring 13 of her points in the first half. Her three-point play with 7:07 left before halftime cut an eight-point Texas Tech lead down to one.

But the Mavericks didn't hang around for long. Texas Tech opened the second half on a 18-6 run in the first eight minutes, with Davis scoring 13 of those points.

"I was just more aggressive in the second half," Davis said. "I was reading picks better and getting open. They had a hard time boxing me out."

Texas-Arlington, which trailed by only three points at halftime, shot just 31 percent in the second half.

Chesley Dabbs added 10 points for the Red Raiders. Erin Grant, who set up Davis throughout the game, had 12 assists.

Ashley Bobb had 14 points and Terra Wallace added 11 for Texas-Arlington.