In front of a huge crowd at the United Supermarkets Arena, Kansas State used 46-20 rebounding advantage to beat Texas Tech and drop the Lady Raiders to 19-1.
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech welcomed the largest crowd of the season at the United Supermarkets arena for the front half of a women's and men's doubleheader. Despite entering the game riding a program-best 19-game win streak, the Lady Raiders could not make history as the Kansas State Wildcats spoiled the party with a 65-59 road win.
A 20th consecutive win would have set the Texas Tech program record for the longest single-season win streak. The 19-0 record to start is already a program record for the best start to a season.
K-State out rebounded Tech 46-20, including 17 offensive rebounds, to muscle its way to a win. The 17 offensive boards matched the total of defensive rebounds for the Lady Raiders.
Tess Heal led the Wildcats with 12 points and a trio of teammates scored 11 as Kansas State improved to 10-9 overall and 3-3 in Big 12 play.
Bailey Maupin, who was the reigning conference and national player of the week, scored a game-high 18 points as Tech fell to 19-1, 6-1 in conference.
Kansas State led 30-25 at halftime, but Texas Tech responded with an 11-0 run to retake the lead with under 10 minute to play. However, the ending sequence proved to be most consequential as the Wildcats ended the game on an 8-1 run.
With 20 seconds remaining, a missed three by Maupin was seemingly knocked out of bounds by the Wildcats, but the possession was given to Kansas State to seal the game.
Tech was held without a field goal for the final two minutes of action.
Just two teams now remain undefeated on the season (No. 1 UConn and No. 5 Vanderbilt).
Moving forward, head coach Krista Gerlich knows that Tech's phenomenal run has sent a message to the rest of the country.
"No doubt, they were very disappointed, as I knew they would be. But we've talked about that," Gerlich said in the postgame presser. "We've talked about, like, if they give all of their effort ... then if you lose, you lose, and then you try to figure out a different way...
"Our kids have to know how to respond to that. They have to know that they're going to get everyone's best shot."
Gerlich explained that frustration from the loss stems from missed assignments on shooters, which helped Kansas State knock down eight of 17 three-point attempts.
While it's the first loss of the season, Gerlich understands that if the Lady Raiders do not regain focus the rest of the way, things like this can happen.
"I'm frustrated for them, because I know they wanted to win that," the coach explained. "It's just another example of, you know, in the Big 12 you better show up every day because anybody can beat anybody."
