Last Season: 20–12, Sweet 16

	Ritchie has the hardware to prove she's for real.

The trophy case in the foyer of the United Spirit Arena will get a new addition before the home opener: Junior G Natalie Ritchie's Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year plaque is going right above the 1993 NCAA Championship trophy. "That's one of the best awards this program has ever gotten," says Marsha Sharp. "It shows the type of player we want at Texas Tech." More proof: The coach suspended her top player, senior F/C Plenette Pearson, for the final 28 games last season for an unspecified "violation of team conduct" -- and yes, the Red Raiders struggled in her absence. Pierson's return takes pressure off junior SG Jia Perkins (16 ppg) and gives Tech a dangerous 1-2 punch. Count on Ritchie (10.6) and the P-Squared connection to land more hardware.

One Step Ahead: Thanks to its spiffy three-year-old arena, Tech averages more fans (12,545) than any team outside of Knoxville. More fans means more revenue, which means more support from the administration, which means more resources for recruiting ... which means more headaches for Tech opponents.

One Step Behind: Sharp favors finesse over power -- and she's very particular about who fits the bill: "I've been picky about who I recruit and who can play in this system, but we sure could use some more size." So true. Other than 6'5" soph C Cisti Greenwalt, who averaged 17.2 mpg, no other regular goes above 6'2".

2002-2003 NCAA PREVIEW
WOMEN
1. Duke Blue Devils	5. LSU Tigers
2. Tennessee Volunteers	6. Texas Tech Red Raiders
3. Kansas State Wildcats	7. Texas Longhorns
4. UConn Huskies	8. Stanford Cardinal

This article will appear in the November 25 issue of ESPN The Magazine.