Jayhawks fall at Texas Tech, 69-66
LUBBOCK, Texas – Kansas women’s basketball couldn’t stop Texas Tech’s Zuri Sanders as the Jayhawks fell, 69-66, to the Lady Raiders on Wednesday night inside United Supermarkets Arena.
The Jayhawks (10-3, 0-2) were led by sixth year guard Jessica Washington’s 22 points and three assists. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native’s 22 points mark her third 20-point performance of the season and 15th of her career. Senior guard Kylee Kopatich added 13 points with all but three coming in the third quarter.
Texas Tech (10-4, 1-2) was led by Sanders, who posted a double-double with a career-best 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Freshman guard Chrislyn Carr added 19 points and five assists.
For the first time the season the Jayhawks trailed after the first 10 minutes of play, shooting just 29.4 percent from the field and going 0-of-4 from the 3-point line in the first quarter. Kansas forced five Texas Tech turnovers in the first period, but the shots weren’t falling as the Jayhawks made a season-low 10 points in the opening quarter, trailing the Lady Raiders 19-10.
Kansas tightened its defense in the second quarter, limiting the Lady Raiders to a season-low six points and holding them to 18.2 percent from the field in the period. The Jayhawks forced 15 Texas Tech turnovers in the first half that contributed to nine points on the offensive end. Washington emerged for Kansas offensively, scoring 12 of the Jayhawks 15 points in the second period to even the score, 25-25, heading into the halftime break.
After going scoreless in the first half, Kopatich found her groove in the third quarter making her first trey of the day and going on a 5-0 run to start the half, giving Kansas its first lead of the day, 30-25. The Jayhawks maintained the lead until the six-minute mark when Carr went on a 6-0 run of her own to take back the advantage for the Lady Raiders.
Kansas and Texas Tech battled back and forth throughout the remainder of the period with the Lady Raiders owning a 47-44 lead heading into the final period.
Kansas kept the game interesting in the final 10 minutes, outscoring TTU, 7-2, in the final 30 seconds, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Jayhawks fell just three points shy of its first Big 12 win of the 2018-19 season, losing 69-66 at Texas Tech.
NOTABLES
- Kansas’ 10 first quarter points mark a season low for the Jayhawks in the first quarter.
- The Jayhawks trailed after the first period for the first time this season. Prior to tonight’s game, Kansas led its opponents 225-133 in the opening period.
- Texas Tech’s six points in the second period mark the seventh time this season that the Jayhawks have held their opponents to single digits in a quarter.
- Kansas forced 20 Texas Tech turnovers, the seventh time this season that the Jayhawks have forced at least 20 turnovers.
- Sixth year Jessica Washington’s 22 points mark her third 20-point performance of the season and 15th of her career.
- With two 3-pointers of the night, senior guard Kylee Kopatich has made a trey in eight of the 11 games that she’s appeared in this season. Kopatich’s 13 points are the ninth double-digit scoring performance the season and 34th of her career.
- Sophomore center Bailey Helgren grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds, her second double-figure rebounding game of the season.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks complete a two-game road tilt at Kansas State for the first edition of the Dillions Sunflower Showdown. Kansas and the Wildcats tipoff on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 12 p.m. inside Bramlage Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Network or can be listened to on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
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