Texas Tech Athletics
Kansas State
Lady Raiders head to Kansas State Saturday
January 13, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Tech looks to win in Manhattan for the first time since 2015
Looking to snap a seven-game road losing streak to the Wildcats, the Lady Raiders will also look to record back-to-back conference wins on the road for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
MATCHUP: Texas Tech Lady Raiders (13-4, 1-3 Big 12) at Kansas State (12-5, 1-3 Big 12)
DATE: January 14, 2022
TIME: 4 p.m.
LOCATION: Manhattan, Kan. (Bramlage Coliseum)
LAST TIME OUT:
Despite a combined 41 points from Bryn Gerlich and Bre'Amber Scott, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders fell 89-79 Wednesday night to No. 19/16 Oklahoma at United Supermarkets Arena.
In front of another energized crowd, Texas Tech (13-4, 1-3 Big 12) got off to a strong start leading 42-38 after 20 minutes of play.
After holding Oklahoma (13-2, 3-1 Big 12) to just 14-of-39 shooting in the first half, Tech allowed the Sooners to shoot a blistering 21-of-34 from the floor, as OU outscored Tech 51-37 in the final 20 minutes of play.
For the third consecutive game, Scott was simply sensational on the offensive end, scoring a game-high 23 points. The performance was Scott's third straight 20-point game, marking the first time in her six-year career that she's reached 20 points in three consecutive games.
In four Big 12 games, the guard has now scored 82 points (20.5 points) and is shooting 18-of-22 from the line in conference games.
Tech also received a strong performance from Gerlich, who scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and had six assists. Gerlich has now scored 34 points and dished out 11 assists the last two games. The guard was 4-of-7 from 3-point range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the line.
As a team, Tech shot 11-of-20 from distance (55 percent) and an impressive 12-of-13 from the line (92.3 percent).
Oklahoma was led by redshirt senior Ana Llanusa who scored 20 points, while Skyler Vann added 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
Five Sooners ended up in double-figures as Madi Williams and Liz Scott both scored 13 points, while Taylor Robertson managed 10 points, eight of which came in OU's 27-point fourth quarter.
The difference in the contest was points in the paint and rebounds, as the Lady Raiders were outscored 42-22 in the paint and were out rebounded 47-26. In total, 19 of OU's 47 rebounds were on the offensive end.
SCOUTING THE 'CATS
• Kansas State suffered a massive blow this summer when All-American senior forward Ayoka Lee was deemed out for the season with a knee injury. Lee set the NCAA D-I record for points in a game last season when she scored 61 against Oklahoma. The First Team All-American had two games with at least 40 points last season. In 33 games, Lee scored 727 points (22.0) and grabbed 339 rebounds (10.3).
• In Lee's absence, the Wildcats have turned to a more guard oriented attack, as K-State's five leading scorers are all guards. Oklahoma transfer Gabby Gregory has led the way this season for K-State, as the guard leads the Big 12 Conference in scoring averaging nearly 21 points per game (20.8).
• Gregory has 11 games this season with 20 points or more including a 35-point double-double against Northern Arizona. Gregory missed the 'Cats opener at UT that K-State lost 87-41. K-State is 9-2 this season when Gregory hits the 20 point mark. Against Iowa State this past Wednesday, Gregory scored just nine points on 3-of-14 shooting.
• With Lee sidelined due to the injury, K-State has just three post players that play significant minutes. South Plains College transfer Sarah Shematsi (6'2") has been the Wildcats most productive post scoring 5.8 points and grabbing 3.8 rebounds in 28.0 minutes. The Wildcats have also turned to 6-3 true freshman Eliza Maupin to spell Shematsi. Maupin is averaging 3.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12.2 minutes. The Missouri native has scored just 12 points in Big 12 play and has played just 43 minutes in four games.
• In addition to Gregory, the Wildcats have two other dynamic guards in Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell. Sundell is averaging 11.5, 5.5 rebound and 5.4 assists while Glenn is averaging 12.5 points and 5.4 rebounds.
STORYLINES:WE'LL TAKE THAT
• Texas Tech has forced 197 turnovers over the last 11 contests (18.5/game) including a Krista Gerlich Era record 24 vs. Alabama State. As a team the Lady Raiders have forced 294 turnovers through the seasons first 16 games (18.4). All of last season Tech forced just 396. The Lady Raiders are 12-1 this season when forcing more than 15 turnovers and have forced at least 20 turnovers five times. Tech did not force at least 20 turnovers in a game at all last season. The Lady Raiders have forced 15 or more turnovers in 12 straight games.
LOCKING DOWN THE 3-PT ARC
• Tech has done a great job of defending the 3-point arc this season. Teams are shooting just 30.9 percent from distance against the Lady Raiders. In particular, the Lady Raiders have done a great job recently. Other than last Saturday's game at TCU where the Horned Frogs shot 10-of- 21 from distance, Tech's opponents have not made double-figure threes since Middle Tennessee back on Nov. 25. Tech held OU's potent 3-point attack to just 8-of-24 from distance. In fact, the Sooners were just 6-of-22 after making their first two attempts.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE
• The Lady Raiders are a perfect 13-0 this season when holding teams to under 30 points in the paint in a game. On Wednesday, OU scored 42 points in the paint, the most Tech has allowed in a game this season. The Lady Raiders allowed 34 points in the paint against JSU, 38 points in the paint Saturday against ISU and a season-high 44 against KU. For the season, opponents are scoring just 23.0/game inside the paint. Tech has outscored its opponents 450-368 in the paint.
TOUGH SCHEDULE TO START BIG 12 PLAY
• After opening up with the preseason favorites and top-ranked team in the Big 12 (Iowa State), Tech traveled to No. 21 KU, the team with the best overall record in the Big 12. The Lady Raiders faced their third ranked opponent in the first four games when No. 19 Oklahoma came to town. The first four home games for the Lady Raiders will be against the top-four team in the Big 12 Preseason poll. Tech hosts preseason No. 3 UT on Wednesday before hosting Baylor on Jan. 29.
UP NEXT:
The Lady Raiders return home to face in-state rival Texas on Wednesday. Tip-off from United Supermarkets Arena is set for 7 p.m.
