Texas Tech Athletics
12-2,1-0Big 12
Houston
4-8,0-1Big 12
Maupin records 28 points in first Big 12 win of the season
December 22, 2024 | Women's Basketball
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech Lady Raiders began conference 1-0 for the second-straight season and for the first time in back-to-back seasons since 2012-13 after a dominating win over the Houston Cougars, 74-59, on Sunday afternoon at the United Supermarkets Arena.
For the Lady Raiders (12-2, 1-0 Big 12), junior Bailey Maupin totaled her third-consecutive game with 20-plus points for the first time in her career as she went 10-for-18 from the field (.555) for a career-best of 28 points against Houston (4-8, 0-1 Big 12). Maupin was on triple-double watch after also tallying a season-high of five rebounds and six assists. In addition, Maupin posted 18 first-half points and had a steal in the game.
Recording the team's first double-double of the year and first in her career was Sarengbe Sanogo, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds, both career-bests. Sanogo was almost perfect from the field after making six of seven shot attempts. She also had a steal and a team-leading two blocks against the Cougars.
Redshirt junior Denae Fritz scored a season-best 10 points as she went 3-for-3 heading into the third period, and 6-for-6 since last game against Lamar, for her first double-figure performance of the season. Ending the day going 4-for-5 from the field, she also totaled four rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a couple of steals. Also tallying double-figure scoring was junior Jasmine Shavers, who had 11 points, while also recording four assists and a team-high of four steals.
Houston scored the first bucket of the game, but the Lady Raiders came out hot after that, scoring 14 points highlighted by triples from Shavers, Maupin and Fritz, who nailed two, as Tech led 14-7 halfway through the period. Then, the Cougars came out of the media timeout on a 10-0 run for the remainder of the quarter to lead 17-14 at the end of it.
Houston opened the second period with a 3-pointer to take a 20-14 lead. Then, the Lady Raiders went on 5-0 run, with Sanogo scoring four of those points, to cut the Cougar lead to one. Houston would answer with a 5-0 run of their own before Maupin hit a three and Sanogo scored four more points as Tech retook the lead, 26-25 with 6:06 left. After a Houston timeout, Fritz came in a made a fastbreak layup thanks to a block on the other end from Sanogo. The Lady Raiders then went on a 10-2 run, where Maupin made all 10 of those points. Sanogo ended the quarter with another layup thanks to a dish from Maupin to give Tech a 40-31 advantage heading into the half.
Both teams traded points going into the third period, as the Lady Raiders stayed ahead by 11 thanks to back-to-back steals and fastbreak layups from Fritz and Maupin. Houston would score four of the next six points to cut into Tech's lead and force a Lady Raider timeout. Coming out of it, Texas Tech would get six of the next 10 points thanks to baskets from Kilah Freelon, Loghan Johnson and Maupin, to lead by a 57-46 score after three.
Maupin extended the run into the final period after scoring a layup. Then, the Lady Raiders scored the next five points after a Houston basket to take a 64-48 lead. Maupin made a 3-pointer with 6:14 for her fourth of the contest. Houston was able to go on a 6-2 run to respond before Tech made the next five points from Johnson, Shavers and Maupin to get its first Big 12 win of the season, 74-59.
Up next, Texas Tech goes on a road trip beginning with a game at Arizona State on Jan. 1 in Tempe, Ariz. Â
Quoteables
Head Coach Krista Gerlich
Opening statement…
"Great way to end a semester and a great way to start the conference with a win on our home court. Our break will be a lot better because of it for sure."
On what's worked for Bailey Maupin's offense…
"To be fair, I called the timeout super late because I was frustrated with her… I thought she was missing a couple of people that she normally would find or turn the ball over to. I want her to be fantastic, and she is, and I want her to continue to be great. And what makes her great is that she allows me to push her like that. I think that speaks volumes to her teammates when they see me getting after the player that has 28 and I'm getting at her at that level, and I think that speaks volumes to them about the expectations that we have and the standards that we hold them to. But also, the belief that we have in them… I think that's huge for these girls to know how much we believe in them and how great we think they can be."
#11 Sarengbe Sanogo
On having her most complete game so far and what worked for her...
"It was a good game today. I stepped up for my team because we needed it for our first conference game. We needed to step up and I just showed up for my team."
#20 Bailey Maupin
On her career high today…
"I think it was just the fact that we had really good spacing, and I just shot the ball when it came to me. It wasn't anything special, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for us today. It's just what we have been practicing."
