There were 6,500 students at the Lady Raider basketball “Education Day” game Dec. 2 between Texas Tech and the No. 20 Georgia Lady Bulldogs, and they made their presence known even before tipoff.
Tech head coach Krista Gerlich said the crowd helped energize the team, and that combined with the Lady Raiders’ focus helped them get to a fast start.
Tech was up 21-14 after the first quarter, shooting 61.5% from the field, but the Lady Bulldogs slowly chipped away at the lead as they came back to defeat the Lady Raiders 66-56 at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Lady Raiders lost their second game of the season to drop to 6-2, while Georgia improves to 7-0.
Faye Puts Up Career-Highs, and Gray Comes Back with 12
Tech super senior guard Vivian Gray was playing in just her second game this season as she has been dealing with injuries, and she put up 12 points.
Gerlich said Gray had a lot of courage, and she said they probably played Gray a little longer than they wanted to, but it’s hard to take someone like her off the court.
Lady Raider freshman center Hadi Faye had career-highs with six offensive rebounds and four blocks as she also put up 15 points to lead the team.
Gerlich said they started her because of the matchups with Georgia, and she said Faye held her own.
“I thought that Hadi really countered their post player,” Gerlich said. “No. 14 [Jenna Staiti] is one of the best players in the country, and I thought that Hadi really stepped up in the very first possession, I think blocked her shot and kind of set a tone for us.”
First Quarter Strong, but Georgia Didn’t Go Away
After the 21-14 first quarter, the Lady Raiders put up just seven points in the second quarter and only took a three-point lead into the half.
In the second quarter, Tech only took five shots and turned the ball over eight times.
Georgia super senior guard Que Morrison put up 20 points and four assists to lead the Lady Bulldogs, while super senior center Jenna Staiti put up 12 points and nine rebounds.
In the fourth quarter, they each made shots within a minute of each other to give Georgia a seven-point lead with 3:15 to go, and Tech never got within five points of Georgia again.
Texas Tech shot 46% from the field compared to Georgia’s 40%, but turnovers killed the Lady Raiders.
Georgia only turned the ball over 12 times while Tech had 21 turnovers. The Lady Bulldogs also converted better off of turnovers, with 26 points off turnovers compared to the Lady Raiders’ eight.
Up Next: UNLV Dec. 12 in Canyon, Texas
The Lady Raiders will have 10 days before their game against UNLV Dec. 12 at First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas.
Gerlich said the break will help the team going forward as they get more practice time, get familiar with one another, and get their legs under them after playing five games in the last 10 days.
“We also can have some really valuable practice time to fine tune some different things, work on some different offensive looks, get familiar with one another,” Gerlich said.
“I mean, that’s the first time that our kids had played with Vivian since the Lamar game [Nov. 19], so just give her some cleaner looks, things like that. I think all of those things are going to help us in the next 10 days.”
(Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Tech went into the half with a one-point lead, not a three-point lead. At the end of the half, the score was 28-27 in favor of Tech. During halftime, officials went back and reviewed a late Georgia field goal that turned out to be after the shot clock had expired, so the score was changed to 28-25 before the start of the third quarter.)
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