Texas Tech knows exactly what went wrong during Wednesday’s 71-68 loss to Oklahoma. In fact, the 10th-ranked Lady Raiders could see it coming. “I think some things that we’ve been getting by with and scraping by, it kind of caught up to us,” senior forward Jordan Barncastle said. “We knew that was going to happen. We’ve got to come out and play our game and set the tone early and continue that throughout the game.” Tech’s first crack at doing so will come at 2 p.m. today against Kansas State, a team coming to Lubbock on a four-game winning streak.

Missing Mallard Senior forward Kierra Mallard shot off to a hot start Wednesday, scoring seven points in the opening two minutes. Her 3-pointer at the 18:09 mark was the last field goal she made, though. Mallard finished with eight points and was held scoreless in the second half. Asked after the game what caused the letdown, Tech coach Kristy Curry was stumped. “You know I don’t really have an answer for that,” Curry said Wednesday. “I’m speechless as far as just — I don’t have any answer.” On Thursday, Mallard said she wasn’t being aggressive enough.

NORMAN, Okla. — Texas Tech managed to pull out its last three wins by making just enough key plays down the stretch. That magic vanished Wednesday night against Oklahoma. The 10th-ranked Lady Raiders scored four points in the final five minutes, and the Sooners rallied for a 71-68 victory at Lloyd Noble Center, handing Tech its first loss of the season and snapping a 14-game winning streak.