Merritt reaches milestone; WVU wins in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior Jordyn Merritt recorded her 500th career rebound, but the Texas Tech Lady Raiders fell to the No. 22 West Virginia Mountaineers, 82-59, on Tuesday night at WVU Coliseum.

Merritt collected her fifth career double-double and second of the season when she totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds, six of those coming on the offensive end, for Tech (16-8, 5-6 Big 12), helping her eclipse the 500 rebound mark. Sophomore Jasmine Shavers posted a team-best 16 points against West Virginia (20-2, 9-2 Big 12) for her 18th double-figure scoring game of the season. Freshman Loghan Johnson had another seven-rebound game, tying her career high, while Kilah Freelon added five boards with nine points.

Merritt scored the first bucket of the game when she powered through a layup in the paint. West Virginia answered with a 9-0 run before Bailey Maupin stopped it with a layup of her own. Merritt connected with a 3-pointer to make it 9-7 in the Mountaineers’ favor. Ashley Chevalier was able to cut the WVU lead to four when she scored a driving layup, but the Mountaineers were able to lead 17-11 heading into the second.

West Virginia started the second period on a 6-2 run, but Jazmaine Lewis sparked a Tech run in response after grabbing an offensive rebound and getting the layup. Tech would score eight of the next 10 points, highlighted by a Rhyle McKinney step back 3-pointer to make it 25-21. Toward the end of the quarter, Texas Tech connected with a few free throws, but the Mountaineers answered with the next seven points and headed into the half with a 40-23 advantage.

The Mountaineers went out to a fast start in the third quarter as they outscored the Lady Raiders 14-2 heading into the media timeout halfway through. Shavers hit a mid-range jumper coming out of the timeout, but then WVU scored another 3-pointer immediately to start a 12-2 Mountaineer run. Shavers was able to stop it with a layup thanks to a dish from Merritt, but the Mountaineers held onto the lead, 70-38, to finish out the period.

Merritt began the final quarter connecting with a couple of free throws to solidify her double-double in the game. WVU then forced a Tech timeout after they scored two quick baskets to lead, 74-40. WVU would nail a 3-pointer, but Shavers hit one of her own to answer. Shavers went on a run of her own when she scored seven-straight, followed by a Freelon and Saga Ukkonen layup to make it 81-57 in just a minute and a half of play. But, the Mountaineers held on to win the game by an 82-59 score.

UP NEXT

The Lady Raiders are back home at the United Supermarkets Arena when they host UCF on Saturday, February 10 at 7 p.m.

–TECH–

Release Provided By Casey Montalvo Texas Tech Athletics