ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Plenette Pierson is the glue that holds the Texas Tech Lady Raiders (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) together. When she is out of the game, both the Lady Raiders' offense and defense break down.

Pierson sat out much of the first half with foul trouble but returned in the second half to score 13 of her game-high 15 points to lead Texas Tech (6-0) to a 66-59 victory over New Mexico at the Pit on Wednesday night.

	Texas Tech's Planette Pierson (left) caused all kinds of problems for Miranda Sanchez and the Lobos on Wednesday.

In her absence, the Lady Raiders shot 43.8 percent from the field and trailed the Lady Lobos (4-4) 33-32 at halftime. Texas Tech's defense also suffered while Pierson remained on the bench, allowing the Lobos to shoot 47.8 percent in the first half.

But that changed with her return. The Lady Raiders shot 51.9 percent in the second half and held New Mexico to 28.6 percent from the field.

"Being on the bench, it was really hard for me. But I knew when I came back in I had to help my team win, to get back into the game," Pierson said. "I needed to get in there and play my game because I knew none of the girls could stop me going to the basket."

New Mexico stayed close for most of the contest, taking its final lead on a Jordan Adams jumper to make it 45-40. But the Lady Raiders ran off 7 straight points -- 5 of them by Pierson -- to make it 47-45. They never trailed again.

"She gave us a hard time with her quickness," New Mexico coach Don Flanagan said. "She was a relentless rebounder. She just goes hard at the basket."

The Lobos had cut the lead to 51-50 on a Sonya Bryant layup, but Melinda Pharies knocked down a 3-pointer and Tanisha Ellison and Keitha Dickerson scored on back-to-back breakaway layups to increase the lead to 58-50.

"I thought we put ourselves in the position to win," Flanagan said. "When we had the opportunity we didn't apply the pressure. We were a little soft on the ball late in the game when we should have put more pressure on the ball."

Dickerson finished with 14 points and nine boards, Pharies added 10 points and Aleah Jonson put in 14 and pulled down 14 for Texas Tech. Adams led the Lady Lobos with 12 points, while Bryant finished with 9.

"We were really fortunate to make enough plays at the end of the game," Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said. "In the second half, we defended them better. Our offense had to feed off our defense, and we made them take shots that they didn't want."