Go Lady Raiders!!!
RAIDER !!!! POWER !!!!
Game: Lady Raiders vs Kansas Jayhawks
Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Time: 7:00pm CST
Location: Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS
Radio: Texas Tech Sports Network (97.3 FM Lubbock) and KLWN-AM 1320 (Lawrence)
Stats: Sidearmstats
Video: Jayhawk TV Network
Listen: TexasTechTV.com
The Lady Raiders (13-8, 3-6 Big12) came-oh-so-close to beating the K-State Wildcats on Saturday, Jan 31st but fell short with a final score of 41-38. We knew it would be a very physical and defensive game and it was. Amber Battle had 19 points in the game and could not get a last-second 3-ptr to fall as the clock ran out. A break-out moment came in this game for Ivonne CookTaylor, who scored 7 points and 8 rebounds and had a career-high of 5 Steals on the night. The Lady Raiders never let up but neither did the Wildcats with 7 lead changes and the score tied up six times. Tech had a total of 10 Steals on the night and they played off each other and kept the momentum flowing. The main pattern I see with this team is the poor angles and rushed shots that don't fall. The Lady Raiders had only a 23.7% FG% for this game and held K-State to a 31.8% FG% but this isn't the only game where there has been a lack of scoring ability. There are at least 2 to 3 air-balls each game and there has to be an improved ability to get a player open to cumulate in a score. I am glad to see the solid game play and the increased number of Steals, Blocks and Assists but ultimately games are won by scoring and the Lady Raiders need to improve on their ability to get the ball through the hoop.
Side Note: Amber Battle earned two weekly awards. The Big12 Conference named her the" Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week" and College Sports Madness also gave her the Player of the Week award. From TexasTech.com web-site:
"This is the first player of the week honor for Battle by either group. She is the first Lady Raider to earn the honor by College Sports Madness and the first Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Player of the Week since Kierra Mallard earned the honor Dec. 5, 2012.
Battle averaged 26 points and four rebounds in Texas Tech's win over West Virginia and three-point loss to K-State. She was 19-of-33 from the field (.576) and 7-of-13 behind the arc (.538) last week in 69 minutes of action. The senior guard scored a career-high 33 points on 11-of-15 shooting and was a perfect 6-for-6 on 3-pointers in the win over WVU. Battle is the only Lady Raider since Jia Perkins and Plenette Pierson (2001-03) to post two games of 30 points or more in two seasons.
Battle led Tech in points for the 11th consecutive game on Saturday. It was her 14th game in double figures out of 15 games played this season. She's scored 16 points or more in six of the last seven games, averaging 19.6 points per game in that span."
Head Coach Candi Whitaker on if she was disappointed on the shot selection:
"We obviously had trouble getting shots to fall. No one is going to give you Big12 games, you have to come out and earn every possession. I thought most of them were open. I thought we moved the ball pretty well at times. I thought our post players hid a lot, I don't think they worked hard enough to get touches in soft spots and areas we needed to penetrate the zone. I thought most of our guards took open shots and I would say a hand full were a little early, but a lot of them were open."
Tonight the Lady Raiders take on the Kansas Jayhawks (12-10, 3-6 Big 12) at 7pm CST at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS. This will be the 25th meeting with Tech leading the series 16-8 and even in Lawrence Tech has won more times (7-4).
The Jayhawks are currently 1st in the Big12 in 3-Point FG% (36.7%) but are in 9th place in defending the 3-pt shot. Kansas is 3rd in the Big12 in Free Throw Percentage at 70.9%.
The Jayhawks' power-house player is Senior Forward # 15 Chelsea Gadner who averages 16 ppg, 8 rpg and is 74.7% accurate at the charity stripe and has a 55% FG%. She gets her main support from Senior Guard #42 Natalie Knight who makes 12.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 4.0 apg and is 38.8% accurate behind the arc. Senior Guard #00 Asia Boyd is averaging 9.8 ppg, and 3.7 rpg. Freshman Guard #23 Terriell Bradley adds 6.4 ppg and 2 rpg and is 47.4 accurate at the 3-pt range. Freshman Guard #03 Lauren Aldridge is averaging 7.4 ppg, 4.5 apg and is 47.4% accurate on her long range shots. Freshman Guard #22 Chayla Cheadle is adding 6.2 ppg and 3.8 rpg. Sophomore Forward #04 Jada Brown is pulling down 3.1 rpg.
The Starters for today's game are: Sophomore Guard #3 Minta Spears who is averaging 7.6 ppg and is 79.6% accurate at the charity stripe. Junior (transfer) Guard #11 Rayven Brooks had 6.6 points and 3.5 rebounds and is currently ranked 11th in the Big12 standings for Blocked Shots with 18 and 10th in Steals with 33 Steals this season;. Freshman Forward #32 Dayo Olabode makes 8 ppg and 6.1 rebounds and is currently 11th in the Big12 with an average of 4.1 rebounds per games (128 total this season). Senior Forward #41 Kelsi Baker averages 9.6 ppg and 5.6 rebounds and is ranked 13th in the Big12 standing in Offensive Rebounds (2.29/game) and 9th in FT% at 71.3% (67-94). Senior Guard #12 Amber Battle who averages 16.9 ppg and 6.1 rebounds and is 79.5% accurate from the free-throw line.
Focus on the game at hand
Get the Win ..... Wreck'Em !!!!
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Notes from the Big Conference:
The Big 12 remains ranked No. 1 in Conference RPI by the Collegiate Basketball News and is the only league in which every team is rated in the top 97.
The Big 12 is the only conference in which every team has a winning record.
The Big 12 is the lone conference in which every team has reached double-digit wins.
The Big 12 leads all leagues with its .817 (94-21) non-conference win percentage after finishing regular season games on a 12-0 streak. The mark is the highest for the Conference since recording an .861 percentage in 2011-12 non-conference regular season games.
Every Big 12 team finished non-conference play with a winning record for the eighth-consecutive year.
Big 12 teams protected their home court with a nation's-best 79-2 (.975) record in non-conference games.
The Conference has four wins over non-conference foes that were ranked in the Top 10 at game-time. The Big 12 faced 13 non-conference Top 25 teams with eight of those in the Top 10.
Seventy percent of Big 12 teams have a win over a ranked opponent and fifty percent have beaten a top 10 team.
Seventy percent of Big 12 teams played a ranked opponent during non-conference play.
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The game can be heard on the radio 93.7 FM (Lubbock and on the Texas Tech Sports Network )
Live stats will be available on Sidearmstats
Listen: TexasTechTV.com