Texas Tech Athletics
Baylor
Lady Raiders Fall to No. 4 Baylor 69-43
January 27, 2016 | Women's Basketball
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Jan. 27, 2016
WACO, Texas -- The Texas Tech Lady Raiders were held to a season-low shooting percentage in a 69-43 loss to No. 4 Baylor, on Wednesday night, in Waco, Texas.In what was a hard-nosed, defensive first quarter, Baylor (20-1, 7-1) jumped out to a 12-2 lead, before a Leashja Grant three-point play and a pair of Japreece Dean free throws cut the lead to 13-7 through the first frame.
Ivonne CookTaylor hit a jumper early in the second to bring the Lady Raiders (10-10, 1-8) within four, at 13-9, before Baylor went on a 6-0 spurt to extend the lead to 19-9. From there, the teams seesawed to a 27-19 Lady Bear lead with a little over a minute to go in the half. At that point, Baylor went on another 6-0 spurt, punctuated by an Alexis Prince three pointer to give Baylor a 33-19 halftime lead.
To begin the third, Baylor went immediately went on an 8-2 stretch to give itself a 41-21 lead. Tech immediately responded and got the lead down to 45-31 after an Ionna McKenzie offensive rebound and putback. However, from there, Baylor scored five quick points to push the lead back to 19, at 50-31.
However, Tech responded again as Dean drained a three to pull the Lady Raiders within 15, at 51-36, at the end of the third quarter. Dean finished the night with 17 points, going 6-6 from the free throw line.
Tonight was the 14th time this season Dean scored in double figures, and the seventh in conference play. It was also the fifth time this season she has been the Lady Raiders' leading scorer. Leashja Grant also hit double figures, scoring 11 points on 4-6 shooting.
Baylor put the clamps down defensively to begin the fourth, only allowing two Lady Raider points in the first five minutes of the period. Baylor held the Lady Raiders to 15-61 from the floor (.246) and 1-13 from three-point range (.077), which are season lows in both areas. The Lady Raiders did manage to go 12-18 (.667) from the charity stripe.
Baylor outrebounded the Lady Raiders 50-31, but Tech did manage to snag 11 offensive rebounds, which led to 10 second chance points.
"[Their size] is a strength of theirs," Texas Tech head coach Candi Whitaker said. "You have to do your best to keep them off the glass and to grab the rebounds you can get. I thought we did a decent job of keeping them off the offensive glass, which was an emphasis for us."
Tech was able to force 21 Baylor turnovers and collected 12 steals on the night. However, Baylor, which leads the NCAA in assists as a team, was able to compile 23 helpers.
"I thought we did a good job of mixing it up between man and zone defensively, and caused some turnovers," Whitaker said. "However, they have a lot of weapons, and eventually they were going to get open looks. I thought we gave up too many transition opportunities, but I was happy for the most part with how we defended in the half court."
The Lady Bears were led by 18 points and 12 rebounds from Nina Davis, as well as 10 points and 8 assists from Niya Johnson, the NCAA's assist leader.
Next up for the Lady Raiders is a Saturday afternoon matchup with Kansas, in Lubbock. Tipoff at United Supermarkets Arena is set for 5 p.m.
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.
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