Lady Raiders win thriller at KU
By: Travis Cram-Texas Tech Communications
Updated: February 24, 2013
LUBBOCK, Texas --
Senior
forward Christine Hyde drove to the basket and scored a layup with 3.6
seconds left to give Texas Tech a 72-70 win at Allen Fieldhouse on
Sunday.
Tech
(20-7, 10-5 Big 12) won its 10th Big 12 Conference game - the most
under head coach Kristy Curry and
most since finishing conference play 12-4 in 2004-05. The Lady Raiders
remain in a tie for second place in the Big 12 standings with Iowa
State.
Tech led 39-23 at halftime before a resurgent Kansas team used two key runs in the second half to close the
gap and tie the game on a three-point play by Angel Goodrich with 19 seconds left.
With
no timeouts left for either team, Curry called the play from the
sidelines as senior point guard Monique
Smalls watched the clock tick down, finding Hyde off a screen near the
free-throw line before she drove in for the winning basket.
Chynna Brown led the Lady Raiders with 20 points and eight rebounds - her fifth game with 20 or more points
this season and 15th time in last 16 games with double digits, just two days after her 22nd birthday.
Senior guard Casey Morris added 19 points and Smalls had 11.
Smalls started her 128th consecutive game on Sunday, tying Erin Grant (2002-06) for the most consecutive
starts by a Lady Raider.
Kansas
(16-10, 7-8) swapped leads four times with Tech in the first half and
closed in on the Lady Raiders
at 20-19 with less than seven minutes remaining before the break. Then
junior forward Kelsi Baker drew one of four charges against Kansas and
hit a layup on the other end to spark a 19-4 run to give Tech its
16-point lead at halftime - its largest of the game.
Tech took care of the ball for the second consecutive game, giving up only nine turnovers on Sunday. The
Lady Raiders had only five turnovers on Feb. 17 in their 69-62 win vs Texas - their lowest total in Big 12 Conference play this season.
The Lady Raiders return home to take on No. 23/22 Oklahoma State (19-7, 8-7) at 7 p.m., Wednesday.
