Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
TCU
TCU Uses Big Second-Half Run To Stun Texas Tech
December 30, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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Dec. 30, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Texas Tech Lady Raiders suffered their first loss at United Supermarkets Arena this season, falling 78-69 to TCU on Wednesday night.The difference in the game was a TCU (9-3, 1-0) 30-5 run spanning from late in the third quarter, through the middle of the fourth quarter to turn a 54-39 Lady Raider lead with 4:24 left in the third quarter, into a 69-59 Horned Frog lead with 4:32 to go in the fourth.
Tech (9-3, 0-1) cut the lead to 72-69 with 43 seconds to go, but TCU went 6-6 from the line to close it out. TCU outscored Tech 46-29 in the second half, including a 27-12 mark in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we played really well at times," Texas Tech head coach Candi Whitaker said. "We got a pretty good lead and then missed a lot of easy shots around the rim. We weren't able to convert and then fell apart in transition defense, and TCU was making layup after layup. I have to give TCU credit--they never went away, continued to run and unfortunately I feel like we really gave this one away. We had every opportunity to win this game, but had some breakdowns that can't happen when you're playing a great team."
The Lady Raiders were led by a combined 43 points from Japreece Dean (22) and Leashja Grant (21), who each hit eight field goals. It marked the third time this season Dean has scored 20 or more, all of which have come in the last six games. Grant has now scored at least 18 points in three of the last four games. Ivonne CookTaylor was the third Lady Raider in double figures, with 12 points.
Texas Tech started the game on fire, hitting seven of its first nine shots and had a 25-24 lead after one quarter, powered by a school record-tying 11 first-quarter points from Grant, on 5-5 shooting. Tech started the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 32-24 lead. Tech only allowed eight second-quarter points from TCU, and Dean hit a pull-up three at the second quarter buzzer to give Tech a 40-32 halftime lead. The Lady Raiders hit 5-11 threes in the first two stanzas.
The Lady Raiders outscored TCU by five in the early portion of the third quarter to increase the lead to 48-35, and extended it from there to 54-39, before the TCU run struck. TCU had runs of 10-0 and 15-0 during the 30-5 overall run, sparked by a handful of steals and four second-half threes.
TCU, which entered the night as the Big 12's leader in three-point shooting, was held to 1-6 from deep in the first half before going 4-9 in the second half. The Horned Frogs had four players in double figures, led by Toree Thompson and A.J. Alix, who had 14 each.
Tech shot 36.8% from the field, its first sub-40% performance of the season, aided mainly by a 10-34 (.294) performance in the second half, including an 0-7 mark from long range in the final two frames. TCU outrebounded Tech 45-38, giving the Lady Raiders an 0-3 mark when being outrebounded. The Lady Raiders are also now 0-3 when allowing opponents to reach the 70-point mark.
The Lady Raiders will now travel to Austin, Texas, to face the No. 5 Longhorns on Saturday, Jan. 2. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on the Longhorn Network.
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.
