Scott drops 37-point double-double, Shavers adds 26 as Tech rolls at K-State
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Powered by a 37 points and 11 rebounds from Bre’Amber Scott and 26 points from guard Jasmine Shavers, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders rolled to an 85-65 victory over Kansas State Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.
In the largest Big 12 road victory since 2011, Texas Tech (14-4, 2-3) notched its first victory in Manhattan over the Wildcats (12-6, 1-4 Big 12) since 2015.
In what turned out to be a career performance for both Scott and Shavers, the guards scored their 63 points on just 30 shot attempts. Scott and Shavers scored 35 of Tech’s final 42 points of the first half.
Scott narrowly missed tying Sheryl Swoopes’ free throws made record, as the sixth-year guard was an incredible 17-of-19 from the line. Swoopes’ school record for free throws made in a game is 19 (Jan. 29, 1992 vs. Houston).
Not to be out done was Shavers, who shot of 10-of-16 field and also grabbed four boards.
Both Scott and Shavers shattered their previous career-highs. True freshman Kilah Freelon also shines, scoring a career-best eight points in nearly 19 minutes of action.
Leading for 36 minutes and 42 seconds of a possible 40 minutes, the Lady Raiders shot 28-of-53 from the floor (52.8 percent) and 22-of-26 from the charity stripe.
Guard Brylee Glenn led the Wildcats in scoring, as the guard scored 24 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After K-State scored four of the first six points to lead 4-2 with 8:07 to play in the opening quarter, Tech used back-to-back buckets to take a 6-4 lead with 7:15 to play.
K-State took its final lead at 7-6 when Jaelyn Glenn hit a 3-pointer just three minutes into the ballgame.
The Lady Raiders would score 14 of the final 19 points of the period due in large part to the heroics of Scott and Shavers.
Tech’s 14-5 run was started by a Shavers’ driving layup and ended with 12 of 14 points being scored by the duo.
The run allowed the Lady Raiders to take a 20-12 lead into the second quarter of action, as Scott and Shavers each scored eight points in the period.
A pair of free throws from Scott, broke the ice for the Lady Raiders in the second period. The two points from the guard gave Tech its first double-figure lead of the game at 22-12 with 9:34 left in the first half.
After K-State responded with an 8-2 run to draw to within 24-20 with 8:10 to play in the second, Shavers and Scott powered the Lady Raiders to 15 of the next 17 points.
The 15-2 run gave Tech a 39-22 lead with 3:56 to play in the half.
After K-State answered with a layup, Shavers nailed a triple to give the Lady Raiders a 42-24 lead with 2:45 to play in the second quarter.
K-State tried to crawl back into the game as the Wildcats scored seven of the final nine points to close to within 44-31 at the break.
In the first 20 minutes of play, Scott scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds while Shavers was right behind her teammate with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
The duo outscored K-State 35-31 in the opening 20 minutes.
K-State expended its run to 10-2 with a second-half opening 3-pointer to get back to within 10 (44-34), but Tech scored the next five points on an-one from Scott and a layup from Shavers to take a 49-34 lead with 8:19 left in the third.
After K-State went on a 9-6 run to cut the Tech lead to 55-43, Tech used a clutch triple from guard Rhyle McKinney to cap a 9-1 spurt that brought her teams’ lead to 20 for the first time (64-44).
The two teams traded buckets of the final two minutes and 26 seconds as Tech took a 66-48 lead into the fourth and final period.
K-State opened the fourth the first points to cut Tech’s lead to just 66-53, 45 seconds into the period, but a quick 7-0 run from Scott and Shavers quickly increased the Lady Raider lead back up to (73-53) with 7:14 to play.
The Wildcats answered with six of the next seven over the next 1:59 of action to get to within 74-59, but Scott scored Tech’s nine points to put the Lady Raiders up 83-63 with 2:34 to play.
After scoring just five points in the third quarter, Scott hit her first four shots of the fourth period, dropping 14 of Tech’s 19 points in the final period.
With the victory, the Lady Raiders have now won back-to-back Big 12 road games for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they downed Texas and West Virginia.
COACH SPEAK (HC KRISTA GERLICH):
“This was a huge road win for us in a place that’s extremely difficult to play in. I have so much respect for [K-State head coach] Jeff Mittie and what he does. Our kids came out and played with a lot of fight and effort. They played with a lot of poise and followed our gameplan to a tee. I’m really proud of the consistency we played with tonight. We’ve played well at times in the Big 12 this year but this was our best 40 minutes in our five conference games thus far. A lot of the credit goes to Bre for being in the zone and being in attack mode. She played within herself and played great defense. We had lots of different kids step up today, and I’m really proud of this win.”
Bre Scott:
“I just wanted to come out today and help lead my team to a victory. We really needed this win and everyone contributed and played great. Kilah came in and played great. As a true freshman, our coaches have kept telling her to do what she’s been doing. She came in and followed the game plan well, but Kilah always plays within herself and does not try and do anything that she doesn’t thing is her strong suit. She rebounded it really well for us and got some easy buckets, and she played some great defense. As a freshman to come in on a big stage that’s huge. Hopefully her performance tonight gives her even more confidence to keep contributing for us. And then, Jazz Shavers played great for us tonight as well. She took great shots and hit some big shots for us. Her shot was really working well. Those two played within themselves and had a great night.”
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• After not recording a double-double in the first 81 games of her career, Scott now has two in the last nine games.
• With her 37-point performance, the senior has now scored 119 points in five Big 12 games this season (23.8 per game).
• In six games against Power-Five competition, Scott has scored 133 points (22.2).
• The guard is now shooting 86-of-101 from the stripe.
• Tech is 5-1 when she attempts at least six free throws and 7-2 when she scores at least 15 points.
• This week, Scott scored 60 points on 17-of-25 shooting (68.0 percent) from the floor and 20-of-23 (87.0 percent) from the free throw line.
• The Lady Raiders won a Big 12 game by 10+ for the first time this season. Tech’s last double-figure conference game came last year at OU (97-87/Feb. 16, 2022).
• Tech’s 20-point win was its largest against a Big 12 foe since Tech downed Oklahoma State 109-79 back on Feb. 1, 2020.
• The Lady Raiders are now 10-0 when scoring 30+ points in the paint. Tech outscored K-State 36-32 in the paint tonight.
• Tech is now 14-0 when allowing 32 or fewer paint points and 0-4 when a team scores at least 34.
UP NEXT:
The Lady Raiders return home on Wednesday when The University of Texas at Austin comes to town. Tip-off from United Supermarkets Arena is set for 7 p.m.
–TECH–