Tech Welcomes No. 25 UT Wednesday

Looking to win against the Horns for the third consecutive season for the first time since 2006-09, Texas Tech enters Wednesday’s contest at 14-4 overall, the most overall wins in the Big 12 Conference.

With a victory on Wednesday night, Tech could move to 3-3 in Big 12 play and would record a win over a top-25 opponent for the third consecutive season.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

MATCHUP: Texas Tech Lady Raiders (14-4, 2-3 Big 12) vs. No. 25 Texas (13-5,  4-1 Big 12)
DATE: January 18, 2022
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (United Supermarkets Arena)

LAST TIME OUT:

Powered by a 37 points and 11 rebounds from Bre’Amber Scott and 26 points from guard Jasmine Shaversthe Texas Tech Lady Raiders rolled to an 85-65 victory over Kansas State Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.

In the largest Big 12 road victory since 2011, Texas Tech (14-4, 2-3) notched its first victory in Manhattan over the Wildcats (12-6, 1-4 Big 12) since 2015.

In what turned out to be a career performance for both Scott and Shavers, the guards scored their 63 points on just 30 shot attempts. Scott and Shavers scored 35 of Tech’s final 42 points of the first half.

Scott narrowly missed tying Sheryl Swoopes’ free throws made record, as the sixth-year guard was an incredible 17-of-19 from the line. Swoopes’ school record for free throws made in a game is 19 (Jan. 29, 1992 vs. Houston).



Not to be out done was Shavers, who shot of 10-of-16 field and also grabbed four boards.



Both Scott and Shavers shattered their previous career-highs. True freshman Freelon said also shines, scoring a career-best eight points in nearly 19 minutes of action.



Leading for 36 minutes and 42 seconds of a possible 40 minutes, the Lady Raiders shot 28-of-53 from the floor (52.8 percent) and 22-of-26 from the charity stripe.



SCOUTING THE ‘Horns

• The red-hot Longhorns enter Wednesday’s contest tied with No. 12 OU for first place in the Big 12. Texas has won back-to-back games and 10 of 11 overall. Sporting one of the best point margins in the country, Texas enters the game averaging 78.7 points per game and is allowing just 53. UT ranks inside the top-50 in both scoring offense (26) and scoring defense (41). The ‘Horns nearly +16 point margin is ninth in the country.

• In Lee’s absence, the Wildcats have turned to a more guard oriented attack, as K-State’s five leading scorers are all guards. Oklahoma transfer Gabby Gregory has led the way this season for K-State, as the guard leads the Big 12 Conference in scoring averaging nearly 21 points per game (20.8).

• Taking care of the ball will be critical for the Lady Raiders on Wednesday night as UT forces over 22 turnovers a game (22.4). Texas also doesn’t turn the ball over much, as the Horns are ranked 11th in the country in turnover margin (6.4).

• As is a staple with Vic Schaefer teams, UT boasts one of the top point guards in the country in Rori Harmon. A Freshman All-American in 2021-22, Har­mon ranks inside the top-25 in the country in assists (96), and is averaging 10.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.4 assists.

• One of the best rebounding teams in the country, UT is averaging over 15 o-boards per game. UT leads the Big 12 in offensive rebounds and checks in at No. 21 overall.



STORYLINES:

EARLY SPRING CLEANING

• Despite it being the heart of winter, the Lady Raiders did a bit of spring cleaning this week when they swept Big 12 weekly awards. Guard Bre’Amber Scott took home B12 Player of the Week honors while Jasmine Shavers was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week for the third time this season. Scott and Shavers are the first duo to sweep weekly awards since Plenette Pierson and Erin Gran in 2003. Scott averaged 30.0 points per game last week while Shavers dropped 19.0 points.

DYNAMIC DUO

• Scott (37) and Shavers (26) combined for 63 points on Saturday, the most by a Lady Raider duo since 2002 when Jia Perkins (41) and Plenette Pierson (31) combined for 72 points. The duo were a combined 19-of- 30 from the floor. Scott and Shavers scored 35 of Tech’s final 42 points in the first half.

BRE’S ON FIRE

• Senior Bre’Amber Scott is back for her senior season and is playing at a high level. After missing the first two games of the season due to personal reasons, Scott made her return to the Lady Raider lineup before the Colorado game. Tech is now 12-3 this season in Scott’s 15 games. The guard leads the team in points-per-game (16.1) and has grabbed a team-best 95 rebounds. Her 6.3 rebounds a game are also the best on the Lady Raider squad. Scott has also made a team-best 86 free throws and has taken a team-high 101 attempts. In four Big 12 games, Scott has scored 121 points, reaching 20 in four straight games. Scott is leading the Big 12 in conference only scoring checking in at 24.2 points per game. Scott is shooting 35-of-41 (85.4) from the line this season and the Lady Raiders are 4-1 when she reaches 20 points this season.

WE’LL TAKE THAT

• Texas Tech has forced 218 turnovers over the last 12 contests (18.5/game) including a Krista Gerlich Era record 24 vs. Alabama State. As a team the Lady Raiders have forced 294 turnovers through the seasons first 16 games (18.4). All of last season Tech forced just 396. The Lady Raiders are 12-1 this season when forcing more than 15 turnovers and have forced at least 20 turnovers five times. Tech did not force at least 20 turnovers in a game at all last season

LOCKING DOWN THE 3-PT ARC

• Tech has done a great job of defending the 3-point arc this season. Teams are shooting just 30.3 percent from distance against the Lady Raiders. In particular, the Lady Raiders have done a great job recently. Other than last Saturday’s game at TCU where the Horned Frogs shot 10-of-21 from distance, Tech’s opponents have not made double-figure threes since Middle Tennessee back on Nov. 25. Tech held OU’s potent 3-point attack to just 8-of-24 from distance. In fact, the Sooners were just 6-of-22 after making their first two attempts. K-State shot just 7-of-30 against the Lady Raiders on Saturday.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE

• The Lady Raiders are a perfect 14-0 this season when holding teams to under 32 points in the paint in a game. On Wednesday, OU scored 42 points in the paint, the most Tech has allowed in a game this season. The Lady Raiders allowed 34 points in the paint against JSU, 38 points in the paint Saturday against ISU and a season-high 44 against KU. For the season, opponents are scoring just 23.0/game inside the paint. Tech has outscored its opponents 508-442 in the paint.

TOUGH SCHEDULE TO START BIG 12 PLAY

• After opening up with the preseason favorites and top-ranked team in the Big 12 (Iowa State), Tech traveled to No. 21 KU, the team with the best overall record in the Big 12. The Lady Raiders faced their third ranked opponent in the first four games when No. 19 Oklahoma came to town. The first four home games for the Lady Raiders will be against the top-four team in the Big 12 Preseason poll. Tech hosts preseason No. 3 UT on Wednesday before hosting Baylor on Jan. 29. The Lady Raiders are also in stretch of three straight ranked home opponents. The span began on Dec. 31 when Iowa State came to town and continued with OU last week.

CHARITY WORK PAYS OFF

• The Lady Raiders are a perfect 5-0 this season when making at least 20 free throws. Both of Tech’s victories in conference play have featured 20+ made free throws. In victories this season, Tech is shooting 75.8 percent from the line. Four Lady Raiders are shooting better 82 percent from the line led by Bailey Maupin’s 55-of-60 shooting (91.7). Bryn Gerlich is next at 36-of42 (85.7 percent) followed by Bre Scott’s 86-of-101 (85.1). Jazz Shavers is the final Lady Raider over 82 percent at 32- of-39 (82.1 percent).



WE MISSED THE BIG KAT

• Grad student Katie “Big Kat” Ferrell made her much anticipated return to the lineup against Sam Houston. After injuring her hand in practice between the A&M Corpus Christi and Jackson State games, Ferrell missed seven straight games. Ferrell is the only active D-I player in the country to have recorded 500 career points, 500 career assists and 700 rebounds. Against MVSU, Ferrell nearly had a triple double without points, as the UTA transfer grabbed six rebounds had seven assists and had five steals. Tech is 8-3 when Ferrell plays and 6-1 when she records three or more assists.



UP NEXT:

The Lady Raiders hit the road for the third consecutive Saturday when they travel to West Virginia. Tip-off from Morgantown is set for Noon (CT).