Texas Tech women’s basketball never led in a 74-56 road loss to Cincinnati on Saturday.
The Lady Raiders (16-7, 5-5 conference) pulled within one point entering the fourth quarter, but the Bearcats opened with a 14-0 run to all but seal it.
Cincinnati (11-10, 3-7) outscored Tech 24-7 in the final 10 minutes.
Texas Tech battered on boards, in transition
Cincinnati enjoyed a 43-26 rebounding advantage, which included 21 offensive boards. That led to 23 second-chance points and helped the team reach 44 points in the paint.
The Bearcats scored 23 fast-break points, including 11 in the first half. Cincinnati used its transition game to build a 20-9 lead after 10 minutes.
The Bearcats went up by 15 early in the second quarter before Tech clawed back within five. It was a preview of things to come as the Lady Raiders made runs to get close but could not sustain.
Lady Raiders struggle on offense
Jasmine Shavers finished with a game-high 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting, but as a team Tech never got going on offense.
The Lady Raiders attempted 26 3-pointers in response to Cincinnati’s zone defense. That accounted for half of Tech’s shots from the field. The team was 19 of 52 (36.5%) overall and 8 of 26 (30.8%) from 3-point range.
The Lady Raiders also committed 19 turnovers, which resulted in 23 points for Cincinnati.
Bailey Maupin (2 of 10) and Loghan Johnson (4 of 8) each scored nine points, followed by Jada Wynn (3 of 9) with eight.
Road woes continue for Tech
The result dropped Tech to 1-4 on the road, all in Big 12 play. Half of those losses are against bottom-five conference teams in BYU and Cincinnati, which each have seven Big 12 losses.
Only the top four teams in the conference have winning road records in Big 12 play. The bottom five are a combined 0-24.
The Lady Raiders are 2-2 in neutral-site games and 13-1 at home. They return to action at West Virginia on Tuesday before returning to United Supermarkets Arena to face last-place UCF next Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Cincinnati takes fourth quarter to top Texas Tech women’s basketball
