LUBBOCK, TX – In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the 1993 National Championship, the Texas Lady Raiders fell to Baylor 79-59 in front of an electric crowd of over 8,000 Saturday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena.
With more than 85 former players in attendance and in celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Texas Tech (15-6, 3-5 Big 12) struggled to overcome a 1-for-17 stretch in the third quarter Saturday.
The cold spell came at the worst possible time for the Lady Raiders, who escaped the halftime break by scoring the first seven points of the second half to cut a 36-26 halftime deficit to just 36-33.
With all the momentum and the crowd of 8,235 roaring, the shots just stopped falling.
Despite missing the next 14 field goals they attempted, the Lady Raiders trailed just 40-36 with 5:49 to play in the third and by seven with 3:32 to play in the quarter, but Baylor (14-6, 5 -3 Big 12) closed the third quarter on a 13-4 run to take a 54-40 lead into the fourth.
In the fourth, Tech scored seven of the first 11 points to pull within 58-47, but Baylor closed on a 21-12 run to complete the 79-59 win.
The technique was guided by guards Bre’Amber Scott and Jasmine Shavers. Scott scored 22 points and Shavers added 19 points and five rebounds. The guard hit the only two 3-pointers the Lady Raiders made on the afternoon.
Baylor saw five of its seven players who played Saturday reach double figures, including Kaitlyn Bickle, who scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Freshman Dariana Littlepage-Buggs added 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
HOW DID IT HAPPEN:
Tech started the game strong with a 30-second shot clock violation and a traveling violation on Baylor’s first two possessions.
Strong defensive sequences allowed Tech to take its last lead of the game, at 4-2 with 7:59 to play in the first.
After Baylor answered with the next six points to take an 8-4 lead, Tech used back-to-back layups from Scott to tie the game at eight with 5:12 to play in the first quarter.
Baylor would score the next six points of the game, but Tech used four quick points by Ella Tofaoeno to pull within 14-12 with 2:59 to play.
The Lady Raiders would not score until the end of the period as Baylor scored the final six points of the quarter to take an 18-12 advantage with 10 minutes left.
Tech struck first in the second quarter, using a Scott layup to pull within 18-14 with 8:40 to play.
After Scott’s basket, Baylor scored 15 of the next 21 points as the Bears led 33-20 with 2:42 to play in the half.
Shavers tried to get Tech back into the game by scoring the next five points on plays to cut the Bears’ lead to 33-25, but Baylor scored four of the last six to take a 36-26 lead into the break.
As mentioned earlier, the Lady Raiders started the second half on fire, scoring the first seven points of the quarter to pull within 36-33.
Baylor scored eight of the next nine points to take a 44-34 lead, but Tech used four quick free throws by Scott to pull within 45-38 with 3:32 to play.
Baylor answered with its next seven and nine of its last 11 to take a 53-40 lead into the fourth.
In the fourth, Baylor scored its first five to take a 58-41 lead into the game with 8:56 to play.
After Tech rallied to score the next six, Baylor quickly answered right back with six more points to take a 64-47 lead with 6:29 to play.
At the end of the stretch, Tech got within 14 points twice, but each time Baylor had an answer, allowing the Bears to close out their 27th straight victory in the series.
SENIOR COACH CHRISTA GERLICH:
“I can’t express my gratitude enough to our fans and the audience that was there. As well as to our Marketing department, staff and administration. Really everyone who played a part in this weekend. I also want to thank the Lady Raider Nation for coming out and supporting us. It was a fantastic atmosphere. I don’t feel like the match was great to watch. I have to go back and watch it myself, but I hate that we didn’t play better. But credit goes to Baylor for that, too. Baylor is a good basketball team. Their guards are really strong and (Kaitlin) Bickle has been playing well inside for them. I also felt we didn’t attack them as well as we should have. We ran a few broken plays or no calls, whatever it was, they kind of got to us early. It made us a little timid. I thought we came out of halftime and attacked well for a few possessions and then came right back to being more timid and taking a few steps back with threes and one-footers, things that are uncharacteristic of us. I hope our children will learn from this. I’m very disappointed for them because I know they wanted to play well for this crowd and for everyone who was here. I think they knew they could beat Baylor, but they didn’t. We will get back to work and keep fighting. I will never report this group. I know they will keep fighting.”
INSIDE THE BOX RESULT:
• Shavers hit the only two 3-pointers the Lady Raiders hit on Saturday. The guard was 2-of-3 from deep and has now scored three of five in a row.
• The guard reached double figures for the fourth time in the last five games and 10th time this season.
• Scott recorded his eighth 20-point game overall and sixth in conference play.
• She has now reached double figures in six of her last seven games and has scored at least 18 points in all eight Big 12 games.
• With his 22-point performance, Scott surpassed 300 points for the season and is within 175 points of reaching 1,000 for his career.
• After leading the nation in 3-point percentage in the month of December, Tech has struggled in the last two games, shooting a combined 5-of-40 from 3-point range in the last two games.
• Tech forced 17 Baylor turnovers. It was just the second time in 13 games this season that Tech lost when it forced more than 15 turnovers.
NEXT:
The Lady Raiders hit the road for a midweek contest at Oklahoma State. Tip-off from Stillwater is set for 6:30 p.m