Texas Tech Athletics
19-18,4-14Big 12
Florida
19-17,5-11SEC
Lady Raiders finish season in WBIT quarterfinals
March 27, 2025 | Women's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior Bailey Maupin surpassed 500 points on the season and Jasmine Shavers scored 21 as the Texas Tech Lady Raiders fell to the 3-seeded Florida Gators, 67-63, on Thursday evening at Exactech Arena in the WBIT quarterfinals.
Maupin needed eight points tonight to reach 500 in the season and she got 13, her 28th double-figure scoring game of the year. In doing so, both Maupin and Shavers became just the second pair of teammates to eclipse 500+ points in the same season since 1995-96 when Michi Atkins (670 points) and Alicia Thompson (556) did so. Maupin also scored 500+ points in a single season for the first time in her career.
For Texas Tech (19-18), Shavers led the team with 21 points and went 4-for-10 from behind the arc against Florida (19-17). She added four rebounds and a team-best three assists in the game, while totaling her team-leading 33rd double-digit scoring game and fifth 20+ point scoring game of the year. Leading in rebounding was Kilah Freelon with nine as she was also three points from a double-double with seven. The Lady Raiders posted back-to-back games with 40+ rebounds after totaling 44 with 19 offensive rebounds against the Gators. In addition, Tech tallied nine 3-pointers and 10 assists on the night.
It was a defensive juggernaut to begin the game as Tech didn't score in the first five minutes of play, while the Florida Gators only had six points in that span. Loghan Johnson put the Lady Raiders on the board at the 3:32 mark when she had an and-one opportunity. Shavers would grab the offensive rebound on the missed free throw then put it back up for a bucket to make it 9-4. Florida took an 11-4 lead before Texas Tech forced a shot clock violation, then got two free throws from Shavers as the Gators held the advantage, 11-6. Â
Florida scored a layup to open the second period, but Shavers answered with back-to-back threes to make it 13-12. The Gators followed with a 5-0 run before Johnson grabbed two consecutive steals and turned them into points, scoring a basket of her own and the other coming from Maupin. Tech went on an 8-3 run thanks to 3-pointers from Denae Fritz and Jalynn Bristow, then another bucket from Johnson to take a 24-23 lead. But, Florida scored right after to retake the lead. Kelly Mora came in and sparked a 7-0 Texas Tech run to close out the quarter as the Lady Raiders led 31-27 after two.
Maupin hit a 3-pointer to begin the second half, then Fritz nailed another one of her own as Tech led 37-29. Florida answered with a fastbreak layup, but Maupin would follow with a three to reach 500+ points on the season. The Gators went on a 5-0 run to force a Tech timeout as they closed the gap at 42-36. Florida went on a 14-0 run to take a 45-42 lead with a minute left in the quarter, then Shavers nailed a three to tie it up at 45-45. But, the Gators made back-to-back layups for a 49-45 lead after three. Â
Florida continued its run into the final quarter, making a 3-pointer at the 9:01 mark to lead by seven. Maupin and Shavers helped Tech to a 5-0 run after a layup and an and-one play from Shavers. Florida answered with a jumper to push its lead back to four. Freelon followed it up with another successful and-one play to make it 54-53 with 7:05 left. Shavers hit another three to put Tech up 56-55, then Florida made a couple free throws to retake the lead. Shavers once again made a basket, this time a layup with 3:42 left to cut the Tech deficit to one. Freelon made two free throws to make it 63-62 with 17.3 seconds left, but the Gators made a few more free throws to win it by a 67-63 score.
The Lady Raiders will end their season with a 19-18 record, their 38th winning season in program history.
