The Cougs (2-2) lost to the unbeaten Texas Tech Lady Raiders on Saturday 56-52 in a back-and-forth, physical matchup. WSU is now 0-2 in road matchups this year and will not have another home matchup until Dec. 13 against Brigham Young.

The first quarter started off the game tight, as both teams traded scores and offensive miscues in what turned out to be a low-scoring quarter. The Cougs forced five turnovers in the first quarter and started strong on the boards, getting seven offensive rebounds and outrebounding Texas Tech by four. Texas Tech kept it close though thanks to a poor shooting performance from WSU. The Cougs shot just 5-18 from the field in the quarter and 1-7 from three. The teams ended the quarter tied 12-12.

Freshmen Jean Chiu and Dayana Mendes saw early action as WSU head coach Kamie Ethridge continued to integrate the newcomers into the rotation. Chiu got key minutes in the first quarter and fourth quarter and Mendes finished the game with a career-high 22 minutes.

The second quarter was similar to the first in terms of the struggles to get the offensive attack going. After going up 14-12, with eight minutes to go in the quarter, the Lady Raiders had a field goal drought that lasted over six minutes until guard Bailey Maupin hit a jump shot in the paint with one-and-a-half minutes to go. The game was slowed down by a plethora of fouls, as the teams combined for 14 fouls in the second quarter alone. After just 11 total points were scored in the first seven minutes of the quarter, the teams combined for 10 points in the final two-and-a-half. The flurry of buckets was capped off by a layup by Alice Dart in the final 30 seconds of the half.

The second quarter was a turnover-happy quarter with nine total turnovers. It was another rough shooting quarter for both teams as well, but this time Texas Tech struggled the most from the field shooting just 21.4% from the field and not hitting a single three-point shot. With the offensive woes from both teams, the score still remained tight at 24-22 at halftime.

The third quarter highlighted the scoring trend of the game as it was the lowest-scoring quarter overall at just 19 points. After the quarter started with several fouls and missed shots, the Cougs scored the first two baskets. It would take the Lady Raiders a while to catch up, not scoring until just over four minutes into the quarter with a layup from Jasmine Shavers. The rest of the quarter was marred by continued poor shooting. Texas Tech shot 25% and 20% respectively from the three-point and free-throw lines and scored just seven points in the quarter. WSU had a respectable quarter but did nothing to pull away. The Cougs jumped out to their largest lead of the game at five points with fourteen seconds left but were quickly tempered down by a layup at the buzzer by guard Denae Fritz.

Both teams finally broke the spell dooming their scoring outputs in the final quarter, more than doubling the total of the previous quarter. To start the last period, a pair of freshmen in Mendes and guard Alice Dart gave WSU its biggest lead of the game, going up by seven points just one minute into the quarter. Texas Tech struck right back though, going on an 11-0 run over the next couple of minutes, including seven points from guard Jasmine Shavers. Cougs guard Jenna Villa ended the run with a three-pointer, beginning a quarter where she would lead the team with nine points and hit two more threes.

The rest of the game remained tight with neither team going up by more than four points. Texas Tech pushed the pace and forced the Cougs to play to their tempo, going up by three with under two minutes remaining. Villa would not let the Lady Raiders slip away with the game easily though, scoring another three with just over a minute to go. After a timeout by Ethridge, Texas Tech was the one to take the momentum back hitting back-to-back dagger jumpers from the paint in the final minute. Ethridge would take another timeout to try to rally her team and center Alex Covill cut the lead to three with a free throw at the 12-second mark, but the game was all but out of reach. Maupin drew a foul on the following possession and hit one of two free throws to seal the win for the Lady Raiders.

Both teams shot well in the fourth quarter, but it was Texas Tech’s 76% shooting from the field that gave them the offensive punch it needed to come out victorious. The Lady Raiders outscored the Cougs 25-17 in the quarter and more than doubled their total from the first half alone. Texas Tech instead fueled its offense through points off turnovers, scoring 17 off WSU miscues in the quarter and 24 in the entire game.

The Cougs outrebounded an opponent for the first time this season, but remained inefficient on on offense, especially from the three-point line where they shot twice as many threes as the Lady Raiders but hit just 31.3% of them. The contest was a physical affair, with 48 total fouls being called. The teams struggled to capitalize on these opportunities, going just 21-40 from the free-throw line. 

Guards Jenna and Eleonora Villa led the Cougs attack with 10 and 12 points respectively. After averaging 16.0 points per game through the first three games, senior forward Tara Wallack struggled to get going, scoring just two points and missing all five of her shots. Wallack’s performance highlighted an overarching theme of post-play inconsistency, as the WSU frontcourt scored just 14 total points.

For the Lady Raiders, a pair of juniors in Maupin and Shavers combined for 24 points including 16 in the final period. Forward Sanogo Sarengbe Sanogo was a dominant presence on the defense notching four blocks and a steal to go along with eight points on offense. Texas Tech turned it on at the right time and pulled away with a tight victory. 

WSU will have a chance to right the ship against another fringe top-25 team in Iowa on the road on Sunday.