Lady Raiders give Bears fits again, but still come up short
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WACO — There is ample evidence that Texas Tech plays better and tougher against No. 1 Baylor than any team in the country.
The Lady Raiders once again played their hearts out Saturday, leading Baylor at halftime and outrebounding the Lady Bears from start to finish, but the end result was an all-too-familiar one.
Tech shot 22 percent in the second half, and Baylor centers Brittney Griner and Destiny Williams notched double-doubles to lead the Lady Bears to a 56-51 victory, clinching a share of the Big 12 title.
“That basketball team plays like that every night, they wouldn’t be whatever they are in the league right now,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said of Texas Tech’s 5-9 conference mark. “That basketball team is very good and I thought our team responded and played as hard as they could to win a basketball game. And it’s supposed to be like that.”
Only three teams have lost to Baylor by less than 10 points this season: No. 2 Connecticut, No. 13 Tennessee and Texas Tech — twice.
The Lady Raiders lost the first meeting 72-64 in Lubbock and were one of only three teams to beat Baylor last year.
Tech led 35-30 at halftime, becoming the fourth team this season to lead the Lady Bears at the break and the first one to do so in Big 12 play. The Lady Raiders’ nine-point lead in the first half was also the largest deficit Baylor has faced in conference.
Tech scored only 16 points in the second half, though, and followed its 6-of-8 3-point shooting in the first half with just 1 of 5 in the second.
“It’s gut-wrenching and it hurts like heck but there are no moral victories,” said Tech coach Kristy Curry, whose Lady Raiders (17-9, 5-9) are in desperate need of wins to boost their NCAA resume with only four games remaining.
The Lady Raiders spread the floor in the first half and overcame a 9-0 Baylor run to open the game.
Tech got 3-pointers from Monique Smalls, Kierra Mallard and Casey Morris to tie the game and kept pouring on the pressure to the tune of a 28-10 run.
Smalls had 11 of her 13 points in the first half on 4 of 4 shooting. Morris had seven of her nine points in the first half and added four assists.
“I think we were just executing and taking shots when it was open and making good decisions,” Morris said. “We outsmarted them on some possessions and when they came out we went in. Just playing smart basketball.
“We were the ones who were slipping up if they got anything. It was us on defense more than it was them changing anything on offense.”
Tech outrebounded Baylor, 38-37, joining Tennessee as the only two teams to accomplish that feat this year.
But Griner and Williams took over the second half, grabbing 16 of their 24 rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
Griner finished with game-highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Baylor went on a 10-2 run in the second half to erase a seven-point Tech lead and maintained the momentum the rest of the way.
“It definitely shows us that it’s not going to get easier,” Griner said. “I’m glad it was a good game like this. (It) definitely gets us prepared for the tournament because it’s going to be good games, it’s going to be close games (in March).”
Baylor entered the game outscoring opponents by an average of 29.7 points this season and 26.4 points in Big 12 play.
Kierra Mallard came off the bench for Tech to score 10 points and grab five rebounds. Chynna Brown, who’d scored in double figures in three consecutive games, was held to five points on 1-of-8 shooting. She had a team-high nine rebounds.
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Baylor 56
Texas Tech 51
TEXAS TECH 51
FG FT REB
Min. M-A M-A O T PF A TP
Barncastle 22 2-4 0-0 0 6 1 0 6
Nobles 12 0-0 0-0 1 3 3 1 0
Brown 24 1-8 2-4 2 9 1 0 5
Morris 37 3-9 2-2 0 3 1 4 9
Smalls 40 5-11 2-2 1 7 4 1 13
Hyde 19 2-5 3-4 2 2 4 0 7
Mallard 28 4-9 0-0 0 5 3 1 10
Baker 18 0-3 1-2 0 0 2 1 1
2 3
Totals 200 17-49 10-14 8 38 19 8 51
BAYLOR 56
FG FT REB
Min. M-A M-A O T PF A TP
Williams 34 8-17 0-1 5 10 1 0 16
Griner 40 5-14 8-10 5 14 2 5 18
Sims 38 1-5 2-4 0 3 3 5 4
Hayden 28 2-8 3-5 0 1 2 4 7
Madden 32 0-4 0-0 0 2 2 0 0
Condrey 21 3-5 0-0 0 2 2 1 8
Pope 7 1-4 1-2 1 3 0 0 3
0 2
Totals 200 20-57 14-22 11 37 13 15 56
Texas Tech 35 16 — 51
Baylor 30 26 — 56
Records: Texas Tech 17-9, 5-9 in Big 12; Baylor 27-0, 14-0. Shooting percentages: Tech 34,7% FG, 53.8% 3-pt. FG, 71.4% FT; Baylor, 35,1% FG, 15.4% 3-pt. FG, 63.6% FT. 3-point goals: Tech 7-13 (Barncastle 2-3, Mallard 2-3, Brown 1-1, Smalls 1-1, Morris 1-4, Hyde 0-1); Baylor 2-13 (Condrey 2-2, Madden 0-3, Sims 0-4, Hayden 0-4). Steals: Tech 7 (Smalls 4, Morris 2, Mallard); Baylor 10 (Sims 3, Madden 3, Hayden 2, Condrey, Griner). Blocked shots: Tech 2 (Mallard, Baker); Baylor 8 (Griner 6, Williams, Madden). Turnovers: Tech 20, Baylor 10. Total fouls: Tech 19, Baylor 13. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none. Officials: Lisa Mattingly, Felicia Grinter, Eric Brewton. Attendance: 10,381.
Comments (7)
Add commentInconsistent...
“That basketball team plays like that every night, they wouldn’t be whatever they are in the league right now,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said of Texas Tech’s 5-9 conference mark.
This remarks says alot about the Lady Raiders. What would it take for them to play with some consistentcy? Think about it.
Once again we choke
Once again we play 30 of 40 minutes. This team can't get it done and it is time to move on with a new coach.
Mulkey said it best
if this Tech team had played *every* game like it plays against Baylor, it would have only 2 losses - both to Baylor. But that's it.
It's really hard from the outside to figure out why this very talented group of Lady Raiders only plays hard every now and then.
I actually do not think it is the coaching staff and I think that it is really lame to keep blaming Coach Kurry.
There's something in the collective psyche of these girls that lets them under-play way too many games.
Get off the coaches backs!!
You know, coaches can only do so much. It's obvious our coaches have the right plans in place to win a lot. It comes down to the players deciding to do what they know how to do and not cave under the pressure. Going cold and just heaving shots is not going to win anything. When they learn how to keep their composure under the tough situations, the shots will fall. We do not need new coaches, we need the players to decide they are going to play for the full 40 minutes of the game. GO LADY RAIDERS!! We love Coach Curry:)
fortressmom
you're right coaches can only do so much...but, the Curry's have now had 6 years to produce a top level team that finishes in the top half of the Big 12....for whatever reason they are unable to do so...unfortunately it's probably time for a coaching change...whether it's recruiting top talent or coaching during the game the job isn't getting done.
WE'RE ABOUT WHERE
We're about the same shape Baylor was in before they got their great coach.
The coach & team can't get it done, & the fans & administrators don't have the intestinal fortitude to do anything about it yet at Tech.
So... it's a SNAFU -- "situation normal, all fouled up".
Thanks Gerald Myers
For not hiring Gary Blair when you had the chance.
The coaching staff recruited these players who can't play 40 minutes and can't shoot.
Fire the coaching staff and start over.