Texas Tech University Athletics
Lady Raiders Head To Lawrence Eyeing Sweep Of Kansas
February 26, 2016 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2016
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Texas Tech Lady Raiders head to Lawrence, Kan., looking for their second-straight win over Kansas on Saturday. Tipoff inside Allen Fieldhouse is slated for 7 p.m.
The Lady Raiders' contest will be part two of a Texas Tech basketball double header against the Jayhawks, as the men's game will also take place on Saturday, at 11 a.m.
The game will be televised on the Jayhawk TV Network, and will be picked up by Watch ESPN. Mick Shaffer will handle play-by-play duties, and Cassondra Boston 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 on the call. The radio broadcast also will be available online at www.TexasTech.com and the TuneIn Radio app.
The Lady Raiders (11-16, 2-14) are coming off a 76-55 home loss to No. 8 Texas on Wednesday. Tech started the game on fire, going on a 16-0 run to take a 16-7 lead, which eventually grew to 23-13 before Texas stormed back with a 25-5 run to take a 38-28 lead into halftime.
The Jayhawks are searching for their first Big 12 win of the season, coming off a 71-49 loss at Oklahoma State. KU is led by Lauren Aldridge, who averages 10.5 points and 2.3 assists per game.
Behind a combined 37 points from Japreece Dean and Ivonne CookTaylor and a 17-20 team performance at the free throw line, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders defeated Kansas, 54-44, on Jan. 30 at United Supermarkets Arena.
"Kansas is going to give us their very best effort," Texas Tech head coach Candi Whitaker said. "They play extremely hard and have a lot of great young talent. They have kids who were fairly highly recruited and can play. A lot of their freshmen are no longer freshmen in the sense they have gotten a lot of good minutes. We have to be ready to go in every area. They play great pressure man-to-man defense, and we have to do a better job of handling that and moving the basketball than we did at our place."
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 | Kansas |
| Date--Time | Feb. 27 --7 p.m. |
| Radio | 107.7 FM or 950 AM |
| TV | Jayhawk TV/ Watch ESPN |
| Live Stats | StatBroadcast |
| Twitter Updates | @LadyRaiderWBB |
TOP GAMEDAY STORYLINES
- Japreece Dean leads Big 12 Freshman in conference-only scoring (11.9 ppg).
- Texas Tech ranks No. 23in offensive rebounds in the Big 12 (14.4).
- Ivonne CookTaylor (13.9 ppg) ranks ninth in the Big 12 in overall scoring.
- Ryann Bowser (.430) is the Big 12's leader in three-point percentage.
- This is the third of a four-game-in-nine-day stretch to end Tech's regular season.
- The Lady Raiders defeated Kansas, 54-44, in Lubbock, on Jan. 30.
KEEPIN' UP WITH KANSAS
The Jayhawks are searching for their first Big 12 win of the season, coming off a 71-49 loss at Oklahoma State. KU is led by Lauren Aldridge, who averages 10.5 points and 2.3 assists per game.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Lady Raiders lead the all-time series against Kansas, 17-9, and ended a four-game losing streak to KU on Jan. 30. The last four matchups in the series have been decided by an average of six points per game.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Behind a combined 37 points from Japreece Dean and Ivonne CookTaylor and a 17-20 team performance at the free throw line, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders defeated Kansas, 54-44, on Jan. 30 at United Supermarkets Arena. The Jayhawks trailed 39-32 late in the third, before Dean improvised and hit a three with nine seconds remaining in the quarter.
The story with Dean and her game-high 21 points, was her performance at the free throw line. Dean went 11-12, which were both individual season highs for the Lady Raiders.
LET HER COOK(TAYLOR)!
Ivonne CookTaylor leads the Lady Raiders in points per game (13.9), 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 10 of the last 13 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 3.3 per game, a number that leads conference freshmen.
SECOND CHANCE
Texas Tech is averaging 14.1 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks third in the Big 12 and 41st in the NCAA. Three Lady Raiders (Ivonne CookTaylor, Leashja Grant & Zuri Sanders) have recorded at least 50 offensive boards this season and nine Lady Raiders have at least 10.
HELLO FROM THE OUTSIDE
Ryann Bowser (.430) leads the Big 12 in three-point percentage. If she had enough attempts to qualify, she would rank 14th 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 (50.0%) 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, while ranking second in steals and free throw percentage. 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 63.4% 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% |
