Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Houston
Tech opens conference play at Houston
December 29, 2023 | Women's Basketball
LUBBOCK, Texas – The 11-2 Texas Tech Lady Raiders are set to open Big 12 play as they travel to Houston to take on the Houston Cougars this Saturday, Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. in the Fertitta Center. The Lady Raiders hold an all-time 38-15 record over the Cougars as the two teams last played on December 3, 2017, with Houston coming out on top by a 75-79 score.
Texas Tech recently played in the Maui Classic tournament in Hawaii where they faced Tulsa and Oregon State, who is receiving votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Tech suffered its first losses of the year as they dropped two tough games during the tournament. After totaling double-figure scoring in both games as well as averaging 16.0 points per game in the Maui Classic, sophomore Jasmine Shavers was named to the All-Tournament Team for the second time this season after earning the honor at the South Point Thanksgiving Classic in November.
The Lady Raiders are coming into the game against Houston averaging 73.2 ppg while holding opponents to just 55.2 ppg, which is good for 40th in the nation. Shooting 42.2 percent from the field, the Lady Raiders are forcing 21.7 turnovers per game and are ranked 23rd in the country in that category. In addition, Tech is limiting teams to 24.7 percent from the 3-point line which is also 23rd nationally.
The Lady Raiders are pretty good at getting to the free-throw line as they are 39th in the nation and fifth in the Big 12 in free throw attempts per game (21.00). They are also ranked 32nd nationally and third in conference with 15.62 free throws made per game. In addition, Bailey Maupin has a knack at drawing fouls as she checks in at 14th nationally and first in the Big 12 with 61 free throws made.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Houston is currently 9-2 on the season as they have key wins over Air Force (99-61), Sam Houston (106-65), UTSA (66-64) and Rice (71-63). Their two losses came against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 29 by a 45-70 score and against RV Washington State, 48-95, back on Dec. 17. As a team, Houston currently ranks top five nationally in three different categories – steals per game (4th; 14.0), turnovers forced per game (5th; 24.73) and offensive rebounds per game (5th; 17.8). The Cougars are strong off the bench as they total 34.1 bench points per game, which is ranked sixth in the country. Houston has three players who are averaging double-figure scoring so far – Laila Blair (15.7), N'Yah Boyd (11.1) and Maliyah Johnson (10.0). On the rebounding side, Bria Patterson leads the team with 5.3 boards per game while Kamryn Jones is right behind with 5.1 rebounds per game.
LIVE STATS/STREAMING
Live stats will be provided on StatBroadcast and the game will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to the game in the Varsity Network App.
FOLLOW US
Twitter – LadyRaiderWBB
Facebook – Texas Tech Lady Raider Basketball
Instagram – LadyRaiderWBB
