Okay, look, losing at home by double digits is far from ideal for a team that has Big 12 title aspirations. I mean, it’s not a great look to see a 14-point loss for a team that is aiming to go out and win its conference this season.
But that’s what happened as the Texas Tech Lady Raiders matched up with the Iowa State Cyclones on Wednesday evening. Texas Tech, in front of a home crowd in United Supermarkets Arena, was handed its third loss in the past four games.
If it feels like that’s not great, that’s because it’s not great.
Iowa State was able to jump out to an early double digit lead and really had control for the vast majority of the game. This is a matchup where the Lady Raiders didn’t lead once. Which, again, if it feels like that’s not great, that’s because it’s not great.
Texas Tech Lady Raiders fall short at home as they were steamrolled by Audi Cooks and the Iowa State Cyclones
Now, Texas Tech was able to cut Iowa State’s lead to 40-38 by the time halftime rolled around, but things got ugly in the third quarter and the Cyclones just kept building their lead from there. Which partially explains why Iowa State held a lead for over 38 minutes of game time.
So much of Iowa State’s success in this game came from the Cyclones’ dominance in the paint. It was an astronomical difference as Iowa State outscored Texas Tech 40-14 in points in the paint.
Combine that with the foul trouble that plagued the Lady Raiders all night (26 fouls against 19 fouls) and the fact that Iowa State had 20 points off turnovers while Texas Tech had just 13 and it really feels like the Cyclones were able to do all of the little things right while the Lady Raiders struggled in numerous areas.
Oh, and there’s the whole case of Iowa State winning the rebound battle 41-30. That’s, you know, not ideal.
Sidney Love, Snudda Collins, and Bailey Maupin did all have solid nights against Iowa State as they combined to score 49 points between the three of them. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. And Texas Tech fell to 20-3 overall and 7-3 in Big 12 play. Now the Lady Raiders get to prepare for the TCU Horned Frogs.