Texas Tech Athletics
Idaho State
Lady Raiders Battle To 79-64 Win Over Bengals
November 24, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas -- On a night when the shots weren't always falling for Texas Tech, the Lady Raiders leaned on their defense in a 79-64 win over Idaho State on Tuesday at United Supermarkets Arena.Here is the breakdown from tonight's win over Idaho State. #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/dPelABvKTK
-- Lady Raider WBB (@LadyRaiderWBB) November 25, 2015
Idaho State entered the game only allowing opponents to shoot an average of 38.6% from the field and showed why early on.
Tech (3-0) started the game cold and had its lowest first-quarter output of the season, trailing the Bengals 15-13 after one. Tech started the second quarter cold as well, and had a 21-20 lead at the under-5 timeout in the second quarter.
"We settled for jump shots when we needed to get to the rim," Whitaker said. "In every timeout we continued to talk about attacking the paint. I thought once we did that, we got more offensive rebounds, got more putbacks and we scored more."
From there, Tech caught fire. The Lady Raiders ended the half on a 10-0 run, mainly driven by Dayo Olabode, who finished with a career-high 22 points on 8-11 shooting, and nine rebounds. The run was punctuated by a Ryann Bowser buzzer-beating jumper to put Tech ahead 35-23 at halftime.
🚨 Buzzer Beater Alert 🚨 Ryann Bowser hits a fadeaway #midrange jumper to give Tech a 35-23 halftime lead! #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/EgbEVqAI5A
-- Lady Raider WBB (@LadyRaiderWBB) November 25, 2015
Tech stayed hot to open the second half, and pushed the lead to 17 points, at 54-37, completing a 33-17 run over a quarter of game time. However, Idaho State (1-3) responded with a 10-0 run to end the third with Tech ahead, 54-47.
Idaho State scored first in the fourth to cut the lead to five, but the Lady Raiders responded with an 8-0 run to make it 62-49. Idaho State immediately fought back with a spurt to close the score to 65-58 with under five minutes remaining.
The teams traded blows until Rayven Brooks got free for a nice jumper off an inbound pass to make it 69-60, and Japreece Dean followed with a big and-one to make it 72-60 and effectively slam the door with two minutes left. Dean scored 11 of her 13 points in the final frame, which tied the school record for points in a quarter.
"Coach Whitaker wanted me to turn on my `turbos,' push the ball and attack the rim to create opportunities for me and my teammates, so that's what I did," Dean said.
Even though Tech only had three players come off the bench tonight, that trio of Olabode, Dean and Zuri Sanders outscored Idaho State's bench 42-2, and combined to collect 19 rebounds, eight of which were offensive. Tech entered the night ranking 13th nationally in offensive rebounding, averaging 20 per game. The Lady Raiders lived up to that mark with 19 tonight.
"I thought Zuri [Sanders] impacted us big-time coming off the bench in the first half," Whitaker said. "She was extremely active on the glass, pursuing second and third opportunities. I feel like she was the reason we pulled away in the first half."
Tech was stifling on defense once again, forcing 24 turnovers and only allowing six Bengal fast break points. Idaho State only shot 35.5% from the field, meaning the Lady Raiders have yet to allow an opponent to shoot 40% this season.
Leashja Grant pulled down double-digit rebounds for the third-straight game, collecting 11 to go along with her seven points and two blocks.
Rayven Brooks struggled a bit from the field, but was able to go 5-8 at the free throw line, finishing with 12 points to go along with four rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal.
The Lady Raiders will now hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to Las Vegas for the South Point Shootout. Tech will face Fordham on Nov. 27, at 6:30 p.m. CT and take on Washington on Nov. 28, at 8:45 p.m. CT.
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.
