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Kansas
Lady Raiders Sweep Kansas With 69-58 Win In Lawrence
February 27, 2016 | Women's Basketball
Japreece Dean had 17 points, four rebounds and four assists in Tech's win over Kansas on Saturday night.
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Feb. 27, 2016
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The Texas Tech Lady Raiders used a big second half to push past Kansas, 69-58, on Saturday night inside Allen Fieldhouse.The victory marked Tech's first season sweep of Kansas since the 2013 season, and the first true road win for the Lady Raiders since a 74-68 win at Kansas State on Feb. 15, 2015.
Both teams came out of the gates shooting well, as Kansas had a 19-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, despite a 6-13 (.462) Lady Raider performance from the field.
KU began the second quarter on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 25-15, but Ivonne CookTaylor responded with five-straight points to trim the lead back to five. From there, Tech scored the last four points of the first half to trim a 33-26 Jayhawk lead to a 33-30 halftime deficit.
The Lady Raiders shot 13-29 (.448) in the first half, but were hampered by nine turnovers.
"This was a great win for us, especially in a situation where we had to battle on the road," Texas Tech head coach Candi Whitaker said. "I thought both team played well, so I'm proud that we could take the lead and hold it there at the end."
Texas Tech outscored Kansas 13-4 over the first half of the third quarter, sparked by six CookTaylor points and a pair of coast-to-coast layups by Japreece Dean, the second of which gave Tech a 43-37 lead and forced a Kansas timeout.
The Lady Raiders extended the lead to 48-41, but Kansas' Aisha Robertson buried a three at the third-quarter buzzer to make it a 48-44 game, going to the fourth.
Kansas cut the lead to two early in the fourth, at 50-48, but Tech responded with six quick points, punctuated by a driving layup from Dayo Olabode to put the Lady Raiders up 56-50 with 4:48 to go.
However, Kansas would not go away. The Jayhawks responded with a 6-1 burst, highlighted by a Lauren Aldridge three to make it 57-56, Lady Raiders, with just 3:30 to go.
Stats for tonight's win over Kansas! Ivonne CookTaylor led with 19 points & LeeLee Grant had 14 rebounds! WreckEm pic.twitter.com/teybIyO7Ch
-- Lady Raider WBB (@LadyRaiderWBB) February 28, 2016
From there, out of a Tech timeout, Japreece Dean got a bucket to push the lead to three, and with 1:16 to go LeeLee Grant grabbed a Dean miss and scored to push the lead to 61-56. From there, Tech would ice the game with an Olabode layup off a great feed from Dean, and free throws.
"[In the final three minutes] I thought we had a sense of urgency," Whitaker said. "I thought we boarded it extremely well down the stretch, got key stops and key rebounds. I thought we executed with poise. Japreece [Dean] found Dayo [Olabode] for that layup late, and that was such a big play. I thought we crashed the glass extremely hard, and those defensive boards sealed it for us."
CookTaylor led the way with 19 points. Two Lady Raiders joined her in double figures--Dean had 17 points, including going 7-7 on free throws, to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Dayo Olabode had a huge night, chipping in 12 points and eight rebounds, part of 19 Tech bench points.
Leashja Grant dominated on the glass, grabbing 14 boards, which was just one off her career high. She also had eight points.
The Lady Raiders held the Jayhawks to just 8-30 from the field (.267) in the second half and 25 points. Kansas shot 20-60 (.333) for the game, making the Lady Raiders 11-1 when holding opponents below 40% shooting.
Tech shot 26-66 (.394) from the field, and went 15-17 (.882) at the free throw line. Tech outrebounded Kansas 45-38, and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, which led to 13 second-chance points.
The Lady Raiders will now return home for their final game of the 2015-16 regular season--a 6:30 p.m. tilt against No. 23 Oklahoma, on Tuesday, March 1.
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.
