Lady Raiders fall at Cincinnati

Shavers led the Lady Raiders (16-7, 5-5 Big 12) with 21 points on the day, shooting 50 percent from the 3-point range after connecting with five against Cincinnati (11-10, 3-7 Big 12). Shavers also had six rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Two Lady Raiders had nine-point games in Bailey Maupin and Loghan Johnson. Maupin added a team-leading eight assists and three steals, while Johnson recorded career highs in both rebounds and assists as she had seven and three, respectively.

Texas Tech tallied a season-high in blocks as the team posted seven against the Bearcats. In addition, the Lady Raiders tied a first quarter school record after totaling four blocks in the period. Sophomore Kilah Freelon led the way, tying her career-best with three blocks, followed by Jordyn Merritt with two.

The Lady Raiders started the first quarter picking up a couple blocks as Freelon stopped Jillian Hayes from scoring twice in a row. After Cincinnati made a free throw, Freelon would immediately follow with a fastbreak layup to give Tech a quick lead. However, the Bearcats answered with an 8-0 run before Johnson stopped it with a layup. Then, Cincinnati scored the next seven points for a 16-4 advantage until Shavers connected with one from beyond the arc. Shavers gave Tech two more points in the quarter after hitting a couple free throws, but the Bearcats would lead 20-9 to end it.

In the second period, Jada Wynn hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to get things going to the Lady Raiders. Cincinnati answered with a 7-0 run of their own, but Tech was able to stop the momentum for the home team with a 3-pointer from Shavers. This field goal sparked a 10-0 run for the Lady Raiders to get within five, 27-22. The Bearcats responded with a 9-2 run until Maupin hit three free throws to end the half with the 35-27 deficit.

Merritt scored a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, starting a 7-0 run in the process to force a Cincinnati timeout early on. However, the Bearcats didn’t back down as they came out of the timeout scoring the next nine points over three minutes of play to lead, 44-34. Texas Tech would make back-to-back threes starting at the 2:57 mark thanks to Wynn and Shavers, then ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to cut the lead down, 50-49.

In the final quarter, Cincinnati began with six-straight points to force a Texas Tech timeout two minutes in. The Bearcats then came out of the timeout to score six more for a 14-0 run and a 64-49 lead. The Lady Raiders would score their first points of the quarter at 4:24 as Wynn connected with a jumper. Cincinnati kept up their scoring up, though, and held the Lady Raiders to single digits in the fourth quarter as they won by a 74-56 score.

UP NEXT

The Lady Raiders have another game on the road against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Tuesday, February 6 at 6 p.m. CT.

–TECH–