The Texas Tech Lady Raiders were unable to overcome Kansas State’s plus-12 margin at the free throw line on Sunday afternoon, falling 65-53 to the Wildcats in Bramlage Coliseum.
Kansas State (17-9, 7-8) went inside to 6-6 Breanna Lewis early and often to start, and it resulted in a 14-5 lead, which grew to 20-10 at the end of the first quarter. From there, the Wildcats went on a 9-3 burst to extend the lead to 16, at 29-13. Lewis finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
However, the Lady Raiders (11-15, 2-13) fought back. Dayo Olabode drilled her second three of the first half, and then Zuri Sanders converted a steal into a bucket and cleaned up a CookTaylor miss for another. Suddenly, Tech was on a 7-0 run and within nine, at 29-20.
From there, the Wildcats finished the first half on a 7-2 spurt to take a 36-22 lead into halftime. KSU struck for another 7-2 burst to begin the third quarter, and its lead swelled to 43-24 at that point.
From there, Kansas State continued to attack and get to the free throw line, where the Wildcats went 16-24 on the afternoon, compared to a 4-10 clip at the charity stripe for Tech. The KSU lead was 55-33 after three frames.
“We’ve struggled all year to score the basketball and that continued today,” Texas Tech head coach Candi Whitaker said. “Kansas State makes it difficult, changing defenses as much as they do and showing different zones. It’s good experience for our young players to play against multiple defenses throughout the game like that.”
Four Lady Raiders each scored eight points, but Zuri Sanders did so on just six field goal attempts, and chipped in a team-high eight boards, four of which came on the offensive end, leading the Lady Raiders in rebounding for a second-straight contest.
“I thought Zuri Sanders had a great game and really helped us off the bench,” Whitaker said. “I’m really proud of how she played.”
Tech hit three threes in the fourth quarter and was able to trim the Wildcat lead as low as 10 points before the final buzzer sounded. The Lady Raiders hit seven threes total, led by two each from Olabode, Ryann Bowser and Rayven Brooks.
For the game, the Lady Raiders shot 21-63 (.333), hitting 12 of 31 from the field in the second half (.387). Tech snagged 12 offensive boards, but was edged out by KSU in the overall rebounding category, 40-39.
Tech was able to snag 15 steals, marking the third time the Lady Raiders have been able to record 15 or more thefts this season, and the first time doing so since Nov. 21, vs. Southeastern Louisiana. However, Tech was only able to convert those into 13 points off turnovers.
Rayven Brooks collected a career-high five steals, becoming the first Lady Raider in over a month to grab at least five. Jamie Roe did so in Tech’s OT win over Iowa State, on Jan. 17.
The Lady Raiders will return home to face No. 8 Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Tipoff from United Supermarkets is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on FOX Sports Southwest Plus.