Texas Tech Lady Raiders Lose Close Game to Iowa State

The Texas Tech Lady Raiders came up short in a 58-54 loss to Iowa State Saturday night at the United Spirit Arena. The Lady Raiders record is now (11-3, 1-1 Big 12) while Iowa State improved to (11-1, 2-0 Big 12).

Kelsi Baker made two free throws with 46 seconds left in the game to cut Iowa State's lead down to 55-54. Then Christine Hyde stole the ball from Chelsea Poppens with 22 seconds left as Iowa State was trying to kill as much time as possible. The Lady Raiders brought the ball back up the floor and Monique Smalls missed the go-ahead basket with 11 seconds left. An Iowa State free throw and field goal in the final six seconds extended their winning margin to four.

Chynna Brown led Texas Tech with 19 points, 12 of them coming from 3-point field goals, and 7 rebounds. However, as a team, the Lady Raiders only shot 29 percent from the field, going 17/57. That offensive deficiency left the Lady Raiders struggling for points in the second half.

Lady Raider head coach Kristy Curry said it was another hard-fought Big 12 Conference game, "Its always that way in the league, it comes down to possessions and making plays on both ends and I thought our defensively in the second half really adjusted, and to have 14 steals and more second-chance points those are two just hustle areas and we forced 22 turnovers, we just weren’t able to convert, we got 18 more shots than they did and credit them for making shots but we just weren’t able to make enough shots.”

Defensively, the Lady Raiders were relentless, forcing the aforementioned 22 turnovers and 14 steals. Iowa State forward Hallie Christofferson said Texas Tech made it tough for the Cyclones to play their post game, “I mean it goes back and forth, when you are trying to get it back into the post they’re playing such hard defense that it is difficult and when you get frustrated you have to take a deep breath and get your composure back.” However, even with the difficulty playing inside, the Cyclones scored 22 of their 58 points in the paint.

Christofferson led Iowa State with 13 points and 3 rebounds. Brynn Williamson also contributed 12 points for the Cyclones.

Senior Casey Morris passed the 1,000 point-mark for her career in Saturday's game, by scoring 13 points. "I wasn’t worried about that, I was worried about winning," Morris said. "I would have rather gotten a win, but I am happy it was in front of our fans because they are so loyal to us. I appreciate them and am glad it happened in front of them."

The Lady Raiders next game is Wednesday, 7pm, against Kansas State at the United Spirit Arena.

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1340 The Fan's Ashley Wirz took some great photos of Saturday's game and you can see them right here on 1340TheFan.com