Lady Raiders roll over Texas A&M-Commerce, 91-45
LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) - Texas Tech jumped out to a 29-0 lead and never looked back in a dominant 91-45 non-conference win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Friday at United Supermarkets Arena. The Lady Raiders led 23-0 at the end of the first quarter to establish a new program record and match the NCAA record for fewest points allowed in a quarter.
Tech (4-0) will now host UTSA at 6 p.m. on Monday at United Supermarkets Arena before traveling to Las Vegas where the Lady Raiders will play Rutgers on Friday and Santa Clara on Saturday in the Las Vegas Thanksgiving Classic at South Point Arena. The Lions, who were down 44-10 at halftime, are now 2-2 on the season after the loss. The 46-point margin of victory is the largest for Tech since a 53-point win over UIW in 2020. Commerce shot just 22.2 percent which is the lowest against a Big 12 opponent this season.
Kilah Freelon and Jasmine Shavers both recorded the first double-doubles of their careers with Freelon going for 14 points and 11 rebounds and Shavers providing 14 points and 10 rebounds. Bailey Maupin led the Lady Raiders with 17 points, while Jordyn Merritt scored 13 points. Maupin and Merritt both had five rebounds in the game. Freelon established new career-highs for points and rebounds in her double-double performance and Shaver had double-digit rebounds for the first time. She had a career-high 26 points last season.
Tech held an opponent scoreless in a quarter for the first time in program history and took a 23-0 lead into the second quarter after holding Commerce to 0-for-16 shooting and forcing five turnovers. The NCAA denotes the record as being owned by “many teams”, while the previous Tech record was limiting Purdue Fort Wayne to only two points in the fourth quarter on Nov. 29, 2019. The Lions scored their first points two minutes into the second quarter.
Seven Lady Raiders scored in the historic first quarter, led by Maupin who had six points and Merritt and Freelon who had four each. Freelon was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and was leading Tech with four rebounds. Tech was 8-for-17 from the field and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line to start the game and take the 23-point lead after 10 minutes. Maupin scored the game’s first points on a layup and would extend the lead to 12-0 on another basket. A McKinney 3-pointer gave Tech a 15-0 lead and a Chevalier layup with 1:23 remaining in the half pushed it to the 23-0 lead.
The Lady Raiders would continue building on their lead and led 44-10 going into halftime. Maupin led all scorers with 12 points while Merritt had 11 points and three rebounds at the break. Tech had eight players who scored, including Shavers who had six points to go along with a team-high six rebounds. The Lady Raiders were 16-for-32 (50 percent) from the field and 10-for-10 at the line to take the 34-point lead. Commerce struggled throughout the half, shooting just 4-for-30 from the field, 0-for-10 on 3-pointers, and had committed 13 turnovers. Tech owned every statistical category, including a 24-4 scoring advantage in the paint and a 27-14 rebounding advantage. The fewest points Tech has allowed historically in a half was eight by Oklahoma State in 2001. Commerce avoided matching that mark with a pair of free throws with two minutes left in the half.
Tech would take a 32-2 lead on a Merritt 3-pointer after Commerce had scored its first points. The Lady Raiders finished the game shooting 34-for-72 (47.2 percent) and 18-for-21 at the free-throw line. Commerce could never get going against the Lady Raiders, finishing the night 14-for-63 (22.2 percent) and just 2-for-22 on 3-pointers.
The 45-points are the second fewest this season with the Lady Raiders coming off a 61-44 win over Lamar in their previous game. The team held UC Riverside to only 38 last season. Tech’s 91 points are the second most this season, falling just short of the 95 in the season-opening win over UTRGV.
The game was the first between the two programs and came after Texas A&M-Commerce transitioned to NCAA Division I in 2022.
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