Texas Tech comes on strong in second half vs. Tulane

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Jordan Murphree scored 14 points and Texas Tech (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 25 AP) beat Tulane 77-50 on Wednesday night.

Alesha Robertson and LaVonda Henderson both scored 13 points for the Lady Raiders (6-1) and Erin Myrick had eight rebounds.

Jami Montagnino scored 10 points to lead Tulane (5-2).

Tech used a 16-4 run to break the game open late in the first half. Patricia Edwards and Henderson scored 12 of Tech's 14 final points of the half as the Lady Raiders took a 38-22 lead into the break.

The Lady Raiders came out strong in the second half, hitting their first seven shots to go up by 28 points 55-27 with just over 15 minutes remaining in the game.

It was a homecoming of sorts. After Hurricane Katrina, Tulane athletic teams, including women's basketball, were relocated to the Texas Tech campus last year.

The Lady Raiders jumped back into The Associated Press poll at No. 25 after beating then No. 21 UCLA in Hawaii on Sunday. It is the first time Texas Tech is back in the poll since December 2005. Before that they had been ranked 248 consecutive weeks.