Texas Tech University Athletics
Lady Raiders To Host No. 8 Texas On Wednesday Night
February 23, 2016 | Women's Basketball
In the Lady Raiders' last meeting with Texas, Japreece Dean scored 21 points.
Feb. 23, 2016
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Texas Tech Lady Raiders continue a four-game-in-nine-day stretch to end the regular season on Wednesday night, when they host the No. 8 Texas Longhorns. Tipoff inside United Supermarkets Arena is set for 6:30 p.m.
Lady Raiders vs. #8 Texas tomorrow @ 6:30pm! $4 tickets with promo code WELLSFARGO here: https://t.co/tRQVGqVFWb pic.twitter.com/A2RzhyU4fb
-- Lady Raider WBB (@LadyRaiderWBB) February 23, 2016
Fans can purchase tickets for $4 on texastech.com, using the promo code "WELLSFARGO." There will also be free T-shirts for the first 750 fans in attendance.
The game will be televised by FOX Sports Southwest Plus, with Robert Giovannetti handling play-by-play duties, and Andy Penney providing the analysis.
The game will also be carried on the Texas Tech Sports Network on 107.7 FM, and 950 AM in Lubbock with Ryan Hyatt and Chuck Heinz on the call. The radio broadcast also will be available online at www.TexasTech.com and the TuneIn Radio app.
The Lady Raiders (11-15, 2-13) are coming off a 65-53 loss at Kansas State, on Sunday. Tech was unable to overcome the Wildcats' plus-12 margin at the free throw line, and although Tech snagged 15 steals, the Lady Raiders turned the ball over 21 times.
The No. 8 Longhorns are coming off a big 73-50 win over West Virginia on Sunday. Texas is led by Imani Boyette, who averages 12.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Earlier this season, on Jan. 2, Tech got off to a slow start in an 86-62 loss in Austin, missing its first five shots and allowing Texas to take an early 9-0 lead. The Lady Raiders fought back and got as close as 24-22 in the second quarter, before going into halftime trailing, 36-28.
Texas came out of the gates strong in the third quarter, pushing its lead to as many as 15 behind 6-7 All-America candidate Imani Boyette, who finished the night with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Tech made an early fourth-quarter run to slice the deficit to nine, at 62-53, but Texas responded with eight-straight points to put the game out of reach.
"You have to do your best to keep [Texas] off the glass," Texas Tech head coach Candi Whitaker said. "They hurt us at their place with second-chance opportunities. They're a team good enough to score on the first shot, but how they really separate themselves is by hitting the glass and scoring on second opportunities. They have great size, so you have to be that much more aware and that much earlier on box-outs."
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the women's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/LadyRaiderWBB and @LadyRaiderWBB on Twitter.
| Follow The Lady Raiders | |
|---|---|
| Opponent | #8 Texas |
| Date--Time | Feb. 24 --6:30 p.m. |
| Radio | 107.7 FM or 950 AM |
| TV | FOX Sports Southwest Plus |
| Live Stats | StatBroadcast |
| Twitter Updates | @LadyRaiderWBB |
TOP GAMEDAY STORYLINES
- Japreece Dean leads Big 12 Freshman in conference-only scoring (11.5 ppg).
- Texas Tech ranks No. 2 in offensive rebounds and No. 5 in offensive rebound percentage in the Big 12.
- Ivonne CookTaylor (14.1 ppg) ranks ninth in the Big 12 in overall scoring.
- Ryann Bowser (.429) is the Big 12's leader in three-point percentage.
- This is the second of a four-game-in-nine-day stretch to end Tech's regular season.
- Texas defeated the Lady Raiders, 86-62, in Austin, on Jan. 2.
TALKIN' BOUT TEXAS
The No. 8 Longhorns are coming off a big 73-50 win over West Virginia on Sunday. Texas is led by Imani Boyette, who averages 12.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Texas has won the last five against the Lady Raiders, after Tech won four of five between the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Tech's last win over Texas was on Feb. 17, 2013. Texas leads the all-time series, 66-29.
LAST TIME THEY MET
On Jan. 2, Tech got off to a slow start, missing its first five shots and allowing Texas to take an early 9-0 lead. The Lady Raiders fought back and got as close as 24-22 in the second quarter, before going into halftime trailing, 36-28.
Texas came out of the gates strong in the third quarter, pushing its lead to as many as 15 behind 6-7 All-America candidate Imani Boyette, who finished the night with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Tech made an early fourth-quarter run to slice the deficit to nine, at 62-53, but Texas responded with eight-straight points to put the game out of reach.
LET HER COOK(TAYLOR)!
Ivonne CookTaylor leads the Lady Raiders in points per game (13.8), ranking ninth in the Big 12. She also leads Tech in 20-point games this season (7), has been the leading scorer a team-high 11 times and has scored 13 or more in nine of the last 12 games.
WE'RE HALFWAY THERE
The Lady Raiders are 10-2 this season when leading at halftime, and 1-1 in Big 12 play.
TRIPLE BEAM
Balanced scoring has been the name of the game for Tech this season. Four Lady Raiders are averaging at least nine points per game, there have been six different leading scorers this season and five different Lady Raiders have scored 20 points in a game.
FEELING CHARITABLE
Texas Tech is 4-0 this season when making 15 or more free throws, and 7-1 when making more free throws than its opponent.
YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND
Freshman Japreece Dean ranks 12th in the Big 12 in assists, averaging 3.2 per game, a number that leads conference freshmen.
GRAB THE WINDEX
Texas Tech is 9-2 this season when outrebounding opponents. The Lady Raiders average 39.2 rebounds a game and outrebound opponents by an average of 0.3 boards per game.
SECOND CHANCE
Texas Tech is averaging 14.5 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks second in the Big 12 and 40th in the NCAA. Three Lady Raiders (Ivonne CookTaylor, Leashja Grant & Zuri Sanders) have recorded at least 45 offensive boards this season and nine Lady Raiders have at least 10.
HELLO FROM THE OUTSIDE
Ryann Bowser (.429) leads the Big 12 in three-point percentage. If she had enough attempts to qualify, she would rank 16th nationally.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
Even though this is just her first season in a Lady Raider uniform, Leashja Grant has already made a huge impact. She leads the Lady Raiders in field goal percentage (50.3%) and is one of four Lady Raiders averaging at least eight points per game. She also leads the team in rebounding (6.5 per game), as well as blocks per game (1.0).
YOUTH OF THE NATION
For the fifth time this season, Lady Raider freshman point guard Japreece Dean was named the Big 12 Women's Basketball Freshman of the Week by a media panel that covers the conference, on Feb, 8.
Dean is the first Lady Raider in Big 12 history to win this award five times--no Lady Raider has won it more than three times.
Dean averaged 13.5 points that week, netting 16 points versus West Virginia and tacked on 11 more at No. 25 Oklahoma State, going 2-5 from long range in both contests.
Dean is one of the leading candidates to be named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, as she leads Big 12 freshmen in points, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play. She also is tied for the most Big 12 weekly awards this season for a freshman (5).
MID-SEASON DEBUT
Brielle Blaire made her debut for the Lady Raiders on Dec. 12, against Santa Clara. The Virginia Tech transfer made an immediate impact, scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds and recording three steals. She continued a great debut month with a career-high 19 points on 8-10 shooting against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
NO QUARTER
Of the new rules NCAA women's basketball is transitioning to for starting with this season, the most noticeable is that the game format has moved from two halves, to four quarters, creating more exciting end-of-clock situations, among other changes.
COMING HOME
The Lady Raiders feature eight players on the current roster who began their Texas Tech career as a transfer. Five of those players are newcomers. Two of them, Brielle Blaire (Virginia Tech) and Leashja Grant (TVCC) will be eligible during the 2015-16 season, while the other three, highly touted transfers Recee' Caldwell (UCLA), Larryn Brooks (Indiana) and Jada Terry (Texas A&M) will not be eligible until the 2016-17 season.
UNDER PRESSURE
Texas Tech is shooting 63.7% from the line this season, but in clutch situations, the Lady Raiders have been better than their average would suggest. In clutch situations (when the scoring margin is under 10 points, with less than three minutes to go), Tech is shooting 26-32 (81.3%), 17 percent better than the overall team average, including going 10-10 combined against Iowa State and Kansas.
| Player | FTM-FTA | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Japreece Dean | 10-12 | 83.3% |
| Rayven Brooks | 7-8 | 87.5% |
| Dayo Olabode | 3-4 | 75.0% |
| Ivonne CookTaylor | 2-3 | 66.7% |
| Leashja Grant | 2-2 | 100.0% |
| Ionna McKenzie | 1-2 | 50.0% |
| Zuri Sanders | 1-1 | 100.0% |
