Lady Raiders Drop Pink Game to KU, 78-67

LUBBOCK, Texas – Despite a pair of 18-point performances from Bryn Gerlich and Bre’Amber Scott, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders fell 78-67 Saturday afternoon to Kansas at United Supermarkets Arena.

The difference in the contest could be found in the paint, as Texas Tech was outscored 42-16.

Guard Bailey Maupin continued her strong play since returning completely from injury. Maupin scored 12 points in 24 minutes of action hitting 5-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-4 from behind the arc. It’s her fourth straight game with at least 11 points.

Kansas (16-7, 6-6 Big 12) was led by forward Tiyanna Jackson who scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 36 minutes and 32 seconds of action. Jackson was one of three Jayhawks in double figures, as guards Zikiya Franklin and Holly Kersgieter added 20 and 18 respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
KU used five quick points from Jackson to take an early 5-0 lead with 8:26 left in the opening quarter.

Tech used back-to-back buckets from Gerlich and Scott to pull to within 5-4 with 7:32 to play in the quarter.

KU answered with back-to-back buckets from guard Chandler Prater to take a 9-4 lead with 5:58 to play. Tech used a quick 7-0 burst that was capped by a Gerlich three to take an 11-9 lead.

After KU answered with a pair of free throws, Scott nailed a triple that gave Tech its final lead of the game at 14-11 with 2:32 left in the first period.

KU closed the period with the final seven points, using a triple from Kersgieter to take an 18-11 lead into the second.

After trading baskets with the Jayhawks over the first two minutes of the quarter, Tech used four quick points to pull to within 22-18 with 7:44 left in the first half.

KU answered with another Kersgieter three to take a 25-18 lead just 15 seconds later, before Tech responded with the next four and nine of the next 11 points to get to within 29-27.

The Lady Raiders and Jayhawks each responded with a 4-0 run, as the contest moved to the final 90 seconds with Tech down just 33-31.

KU used a layup from Jackson to take a 35-31 lead, but back-to-back triples from Tatum Veitenheimer and Maupin cut the Lady Raider deficit to just 38-37 at the break.

Tech outscored KU 23-20 in the second quarter, as Gerlich and Scott combined for nine points.

Gerlich scored 12 of her 16 points in the opening 20 minutes while Scott scored nine of her 18 in the opening half.

After Tech and KU traded triples to open the third, KU scored the next six points to take a 47-40 lead with five minutes and 37 seconds to go in the third.

The Lady Raiders responded with seven of the next 10 points to pull to within 50-47 but back-to-back KU buckets with 43 and seven seconds left gave the visitors a 54-47 lead after three.

In the fourth, Tech and KU traded baskets over the first three minutes and four seconds of the quarter. Tech used a 3-pointer from Scott to pull to within 60-56 but KU answered with the next five and eight of the next 10 to take a 65-58 lead with 4:58 to play.

Jackson went to the bench with her fourth foul 31 seconds later, opening the window for a Tech run, but the Lady Raiders managed to outscore KU just 3-0 until she checked back in with 2:48 to play. The run made the score 68-61 in favor of KU.

Down the stretch, KU scored 10 of the final 17 points to close out a 78-67 victory.

COACH SPEAK (HC KRISTA GERLICH):
“I thought our kids played extremely hard. Kansas is a good basketball team. They’ve got a lot of returners, a lot of experienced kids that have played in his system for a long time. I thought their big three played well and performed well. We’re asking a lot of young kids to do a lot of things, and they’re giving us their very best effort and I’m proud of them. We just need a little bit of help, particularly down low. Obviously, Jackson was a difficult match-up for us, I thought we defended her pretty well. I thought that Jazmaine [Lewis] did a pretty good job for the time that she was in there. Katie was obviously mismatched but always gives us her all. Then we’re asking Kilah Freelon to play a lot of minutes and do a lot of things as a freshman. I just love how hard she plays. She is going to make some freshman mistakes, but you can accept it a little bit better when she plays as hard as she does. So, I’m proud of our kids. This was a hard week, three games in seven days were tough. I thought our kids were focused and didn’t give up. I thought that if we have had a couple of better possessions in the third quarter and didn’t get in the hole we wouldn’t have had to play catch-up the whole game. We used a lot of energy doing that.”

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• 18 points continues to be a magic number for Scott, as the guard has now scored at least 18 points in 10 of 11 Big 12 Conference games.
• Gerlich continues to score at a high level since the calendar switched to February.
• During the four games this month, the guard has scored at least 16 points in all four. After today’s 18 point performance the guard also recored her first career four-game streak with 15+ points.
• In fact, Gerlich had never reached double figures in four straight games before this season.
• Tech made at least nine 3-pointers for the third straight game. The Lady Raiders now have made 29 the last three contests.
• Despite shooting 8-of-20 from deep in the first 30 minutes, the Lady Raiders went just 1-of-6 in the fourth.
• The paint continues to tell the story for the Lady Raiders. Tech is now 16-2 this season when holding teams below 32 paint points and 0-7 when allowing 33+.
• With today’s 42 points in the paint, KU scored 86 points inside the paint in the two matchups.
• Jackson finished the two games with 39 points and 29 rebounds in the two games.
• KU’s trio of Jackson, Franklin and Kersgieter scored 62 of KUs 78 points.
• The Lady Raiders outscored KUs bench 24-0.
• Guard/forward Katie Ferrell was limited to just under 20 minutes of action due to foul trouble. The UTA transfer has now fouled out in back-to-back games and seven of 11 conference games.
• Tech is just 1-6 when she fouls out of a game. The lone win was at TCU.
• The Lady Raiders fell to Kansas for the fourth straight game.

UP NEXT:
The Lady Raiders head to second place and No. 16 Oklahoma Wednesday night. Tip-off from Norman is set for 7 p.m.

–TECH–

Release provided by Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics