Oklahoma State outlasts Texas Tech in low-scoring affair to advance to Big 12 Tournament semifinals
Photos © Robert Franklin, all rights reserved
#5 Oklahoma State 59, #4 Texas Tech 54
DALLAS – Oklahoma State outlasted Texas Tech 59-54 to advance to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament early Saturday afternoon at American Airlines Center in front of a record session two crowd of 7,311. The Cowgirls lost the season series to the Lady Raiders but came out on top in the third meeting between the two teams.
“We had lost two times previous to Texas Tech,” said Oklahoma State head coach Jim Littell. “And every time this year that we have lost to an opponent, other than Baylor, we found a way to come back and win. It took three times to do that against a very good and very experienced Tech team. They have got four seniors, and they just know how to play, and they caused us a great deal of difficulty.”
Both teams started off slow offensively. There were four trips up and down the court before Oklahoma State scored on a jumper from Liz Donohoe after two missed shots and two turnovers from each team. The glacial pace of made shots continued throughout the first half due to poor shot selection, missed layups and an abundance of turnovers.
At the half Oklahoma State led 24-19. The offensive woes continued into the second half with neither team gaining a significant edge although Oklahoma State held the lead throughout. The Cowgirls never strayed more than five points from Texas Tech. The Lady Raiders closed the gap to two in the last 38 seconds of the game but Donohoe singlehandedly shut them out, scoring the last four points of the game.
Kendra Suttles led the Cowgirls with 16 points, Toni Young has 18 rebounds to go along with her 11 points. Brittney Martin contributed 14 points plus six rebounds while Liz Donohoe finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five steals.
For Young, the key to overcoming the offensive drought was rebounding.
“Coach said to keep trying to get rebounds and trying to get every rebound that comes off the rim,” said Young. “In this game, if I couldn’t produce some offense, I was going to do something productive and that was rebounding.”
Kelsi Baker led the Lady Raiders with 17 points and 14 rebounds and Casey Morris added 13 points.
Oklahoma State faces No. 1 seed Baylor tomorrow in the semifinals.
Notes
Texas Tech still leads the series at 33-19 overall. This was the 52nd meeting between the two programs. Oklahoma State is now 2-4 against Texas Tech in Big 12 Championship meetings. The pair have met for a total of six times in the tournament. The last time the two met in the Championship was in the first round in 2011 where Texas Tech beat Oklahoma State, 75-52. The Cowgirls are 12-16 all-time in the tournament. They snapped a three-game losing streak with today’s win against Texas Tech.
