WBB: Lady Raiders v OU Sooners

Go Lady Raiders!!!

RAIDER !!!!   POWER !!!!

Game: Lady Raiders vs.  Oklahoma Sooners

Date: Saturday, January 24, 2015

Time: 3:00pm CST

Location: Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK

Radio: Texas Tech Sports Network (97.3 FM Lubbock)  and   KOKC-1520 AM (Norman)

Stats: SoonerSports/LiveStats

TV: FOX Sports Southwest (FSN)

Listen: TexasTechTV.com

The Lady Raiders (12-6, 2-4) gave their fans a glimmer of what could be and a good high on Wednesday night but then those hopes were dashed and smashed into the ground. Tech dominated the 1st half against the Kansas Jayhawks by coming out hot and taking a 10-2 lead but then they allowed the Jayhawks to tie it at 18. The Lady Raiders rallied after their defense forced six turnovers and Tech nailed four 3-Ptrs and went on a 22-5 run. Tech lead by 15 points at half-time (43-28). But then Tech allowed the Jayhawks to go on a 2nd half run of 25-8 to tie the game at 55 with seven minutes remaining in the game. The Lady Raiders resorted to their rushed, poor attempts style of play we have seen in the past few weeks and only scored 5 more points from the field and failed to tie the game at the 28 second mark before Kansas controlled the final drive. Final score Tech 66 and Kansas 68. The Lady Raiders had a great first half with strong offensive execution  with 62% FG% , they nailed 7 of 10 at the 3-pt line, three of the players ( Kelsi Baker, Amber Battle and CookTaylor) were in double-digits for the first time this year. But then Tech's defense went to sleep in the 2nd half and they allowed Kansas to dominate the boards (31-20) and dropped to only 29% FG%.

As Head Coach Candi Whitaker on if she saw a difference in tempo during the second half:

"Not necessarily. I just didn't think we were pushing quiet as hard, pushing the ball, and running as much. I think we ran out of gas quickly. We proudly need to play more people and try to be a little deeper. I thought foul trouble really got us out of our rhythm offensively. Obviously it affected us on the defensive end. We were very small at times, didn't rebound it well out of the zone. Offensively we had to go with line-ups that we have never gone up with because of foul trouble and just inefficiency at times with some people. So I just thought we kind of got stagnate and weren't able to run the stuff we typical do."

This afternoon, the Lady Raiders take on the Oklahoma Sooners (12-5, 6-0) at 3pm CST at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK.  This will be the second meeting this season and the 52nd meeting with OU leading the series 29-22 and the odds are not good in Norman since Lady Raiders last win was in February 2005 at the LNC.

Oklahoma is currently 2nd in the Big12 in Scoring Offense, however they are in the 10th spot in Scoring Defense. The Sooners are struggling at the charity stripe with only a 66.5% FT%.

The powerhouse player for the Sooners is Senior Guard #24 Sharane Campbell-Olds. She averages 10.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg  and is 74.6% from the free-throw line. She is supported by Junior Center # 42 Kaylon Williams, who averages 11.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg and is shooting 64% from the field.  Sophomore Guard # 10 Peyton Little 10.4 ppg and is 70% accurate at the free-throw line and has 25 Steals this season. Sophomore Guard # 25 Gioya Carter adds 10.2 ppg and 3.4 rpg and hits 57% of her 3-Pt attempts. Freshman Guard #21 Gabbi Ortiz brings to the table 7 ppg and 3.6 rpg.

I am hoping the Lady Raiders can play a very solid game and utilize what they learned from the last few games and play a very athletic, aggressive game today and beat the Sooners. I am hoping that Tech does not run out of energy and that they play a full 40 minutes like they did in the first half last Wednesday.

The Starters for today's game are:  Sophomore Guard #3 Minta Spears who is averaging 8.3 ppg and is 80.4% accurate at the charity stripe and is currently ranked 1st in the Big 12 standings for 3-Pt FG% with 49.2.9% (29-59);  Junior (transfer) Guard #11 Rayven Brooks had 6.8 points and 3.7 rebounds and is currently ranked 10th in the Big12 standings for Blocked Shots with 18 blocks this season; Freshman Forward #32 Dayo Olabode  makes 8.3 ppg and 5.8 rebounds and is currently 16th in the Big12 with an average of 5.7 rebounds per games (103 total this season);  Senior Forward #41 Kelsi Baker averages 10.2 ppg and 5.2 rebounds and is ranked 13th in the Big12 standing in Offensive Rebounds (2.17/game) and 8th in FT% at 72.3% (60-83); and Senior Guard #12 Amber Battle who averages 15.5 ppg and 6.7 rebounds and is 84.7% accurate from the free-throw line..

Get the Win  .....  Wreck'Em !!!!

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The game can be heard on the radio 93.7 FM (Lubbock and on the Texas Tech Sports Network )

The game will air on Fox Sports Southwest (FSN)

Live stats will be available on SoonerSports/LiveStats