Lady Raiders fall to RV Florida State
November 28, 2024 | Women's Basketball
SAINT THOMAS, V.I. – Junior Jasmine Shavers tied her season high in points with 18, but the Texas Tech Lady Raiders fell to the Florida State Seminoles, who are receiving votes in the latest polls, by a score of 70-62 on Thursday night at the Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center.
For Tech (6-1), Shavers led the team with 18 points while also grabbing five rebounds and nailing four 3-pointers. Junior Bailey Maupin went 5-for-11 from the field as she scored 13 points and led the team with a season-best four assists, all coming in the second quarter.
Junior Kilah Freelon had one of her best games of the year after scoring six points, grabbing a team-leading and season-high seven rebounds, while also adding two steals and a season high of two blocks. Junior Jada Wynn also had a great game – scoring seven points, grabbing four rebounds, totaling three assists and two steals.
Florida State (6-1) came into tonight's game averaging over 100 points per game, but the Lady Raiders held the Seminoles to their season-low in points with 70. In addition, Tech held Florida State to under 20 points in three quarters of the contest, the most in a game this season for the Noles. The only other time this happened was when Illinois held the Seminoles to under 20 in two quarters as the Illini ended up winning that game.
The Lady Raiders outscored the Seminoles in the second and fourth quarters, while tying with them in the third quarter. Forcing 19 Florida State turnovers in the game, Tech only allowed the Noles to score just four 3-pointers in the game, which marks their lowest total all season.
The Seminoles started out on a 9-0 run to begin the game, even though Texas Tech totaled two blocks in that span. Maupin would score the first basket for the Lady Raiders at the 4:24 mark to make it 9-2, then Shavers scored a driving layup a couple minutes later. Maupin connected with a free throw with one second left as Florida State led 16-5 to end the period.
Wynn cut the lead in half when she nailed a 3-pointer coming into the second. Maupin would score a layup right after, getting fouled on the shot and making her free throw to make it 16-11. Tech would go on a 6-0 run thanks to two steals and buckets from three different players – Jordyn Merritt, Freelon and Shavers to make it 18-17. Both teams went back-and-forth after that until the Seminoles went on a 7-0 run. Sarengbe Sanogo stopped the run after hitting a second-chance layup thanks to an offensive board. Tech outscored Florida State 23 to 21 in the quarter, but the Noles took the 37-28 lead into half.
Florida State scored the first four points of the third quarter, but both Maupin and Shavers hit consecutive 3-pointers, then Wynn scored a turnaround jumper for an 8-0 run to make the score, 41-36. The Noles answered, however, with a 6-0 run of their own heading into the media timeout. Coming out of it, Freelon made a second-chance layup thanks to an offensive rebound. FSU followed with a three, but Denae Fritz made one right after. Merritt added two more points for the Lady Raiders on a layup to get within seven points. With a minute and a half left, the Tech defense was on fire as Freelon blocked back-to-back shots, Loghan Johnson and Fritz forced a five-second turnover and Florida State recorded a 10-second turnover, but the Seminoles would lead ___ going into the last period.
In the final quarter, the Lady Raiders went on a 7-0 run to begin as Johnson scored a layup and Shavers made a 3-pointer and a layup. The teams traded points after, until Shavers connected with a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game, 58-57. The Seminoles would go on a 6-0 run over the next few minutes to force a Tech timeout, leading 64-57. The Lady Raiders got another 3-pointer from Shavers as FSU led, 66-62. Tech fought until the last second, but the Noles would hand the Lady Raiders their first loss of the year by a 70-62 score.
Up next, Texas Tech faces the Gonzaga Bulldogs tomorrow at 7 p.m. CT in the Paradise Jam tournament.