Since scoring a career-high 16 points
against New Orleans on November 25, junior Jackie Patterson has not reached
double-digits in scoring this season, including no points scored in the Lady
Raiders loss to Iowa State.
On Wednesday, it was a different story
for the Frisco, Texas native, Patterson connecting on 6-of-11 shots for 14
points in Texas Tech’s 59-50 victory against Kansas State inside the United
Spirit Arena.
“Yeah just a little bit,” Patterson said
about finding a groove against the Wildcats. “I felt good about all my shots
that I took tonight.”
Kansas State (10-5, 1-2 in Big 12
Conference play) opened the game on an 8-0 run, but the rest of the first half
was a different story.
Tech (12-3, 2-1) proceeded to rattle off
a 24-7 run in the span of 13 minutes and 47 seconds to give the Lady Raiders a
24-15 lead with 2:50 left in the first half.
During that span Kansas State missed 18
shots, eight of those being from beyond the arc. The Wildcats finished the game
going 15-for-49 from the field and 5-for-22 from three-point range.
Senior guard Brittany Chambers, entering
the game as the Wildcats biggest scoring threat averaging 18.9 points per game,
finished with 15 points and said it was frustrating with as many shots that
were missed.
“We missed way too
many open shots and especially on in and outs and we were missing some easy
shots that we should be putting in,” she said. “But that it happens on the road
sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to and you have to find a way
to score in different ways and the first half we didn’t really doing that and I
felt like if we would have played the first half like the second half it would
have been a lot better but credit goes to Tech they played really well in the
first half.”
Along with Patterson, junior Kelsi Baker reached double-digits in scoring 14
points marking the 10th time in the last 12 games the junior has
done so.
Baker also provided help on the defensive end getting a steal and a block and
also drawing a number of fouls.
Two of the five starters for the Wildcats did not finish the game above five
points for either or on the court for the final seconds because of foul
trouble.
Guard’s Mariah White and Ashia Woods both finishing below their season
averages, four and two points, respectively, and Kansas State head coach Deb Patterson said that contributed to her squad dealing with both Baker and
Patterson.
“Obviously Kelsi Baker and Jackie Patterson were critical elements down the
stretch with big catches and mismatches,” she said. “Once we had three players
with four fouls, so it got a little tougher to defend and to be as aggressive
as might of hoped, credit Texas Tech I think they are a basketball team that is
going to make a lot of noise in the league and hopefully we can bounce back
from this and go home against West Virginia and be a little bit better.”
Following a game where the Lady Raiders only shot 29.8 percent from the field,
Tech shot for 39.2 percent.
The biggest improvement came in the play of the posts, Baker and Patterson, who
combined to score just six points against Iowa State, but scored 28 against the
Wildcats.
Tech head coach Kristy Curry said she was happy with the improved play of the
posts.
“We worked and reworked and got a couple of extra finishes and they continued
to just try and go up strong and try and finish inside,” she said. “When you
can get the ball inside to your posts good things are going to happen outside
and so we want to have and inside outside approach and I felt like we did a
good job of that tonight.”
The next test for the Lady Raiders is on the road against Oklahoma on January
12 with first tip set for 7 p.m. in Norman, Oklahoma.