LUBBOCK, Texas – Despite losing 11 of its last 13 games, Texas Tech is just a different team at United Supermarkets Arena, "being in every game," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said.
 
That's the Tech team that 25^th-ranked Baylor saw Saturday afternoon, the Lady Raiders hitting four or their first five shots from distance and taking a 10-point lead late in the second quarter.
 
But the Bears (22-5, 12-2) played lock-down defense in the second half, holding Tech (14-13, 3-11) to 22 points and 25% shooting from the floor to pull out a 66-60 win for their sixth-straight overall and 31^st in a row against the Lady Raiders.
 
"We just really challenged them on the defensive side of the ball," Collen said of the halftime message. "We're a team that thrives in the open court. . . . Andy by not getting stops, we were consistently facing the press. We weren't just turning it over against the press, it just thwarted your ability to play in the open floor. If we get stops, we can play our style of basketball."
 
Junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs recorded her 11^th double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds, hitting 9-of-11 from the floor, while fifth-year senior guard Sarah Andrews hit three 3-pointers and scored 16 points in her record-breaking 159^th career game. That set a Big 12 record of 158 that was held by Iowa State's Ashley Joens.
 
Tech's undoing in the fourth quarter came at the free throw line, where Sarengbe Sanogo and Bailey Maupin both missed critical free throws with the game very much on the line.
 
"Winning and losing is contagious," Collen said. "Those kids battled. (Tech coach Krista Gerlich) has got them playing really hard, executing at a really high level. But it's just kids making plays. You tell me the last time Bailey Maupin missed two free throws late in the game to keep it a one-point game. That's just not her. She's an elite free throw shooter."
 
Conversely, Baylor made the plays when it mattered the most. Littlepage-Buggs converted a three-point play with a layup and free throw, and then Andrews knocked down a clutch 3-pointer that pushed it to a five-point lead, 63-58, with just under three minutes to play.
 
And then, still clinging to a one-possession lead, Jada Walker drove the lane and dished off to Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh for a layup that pushed the Bears' lead to 65-60 with only 30 seconds left on the clock.
 
"I thought that was maybe the biggest assist of the game," Collen said, "when Jada drove and made the drop to Nettie, to create separation. Probably not a pretty game to watch, but a really good game, a really competitive game."
 
Leading 23-19 after the first quarter, the Lady Raiders reeled off seven unanswered points to go up 35-25 on a Kilah Freelon layup off a dish from former Baylor and Iowa State player Denae Fritz.
 
But Baylor went on an 8-0 run of their own and took their first lead of the game, 39-38, on a steal and layup by Walker in the final seconds before intermission. Continuing that momentum early in the second half, the Bears took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Andrews at the 6:38 mark of the third quarter.
 
Walker gave Baylor a third double-figure scorer with 10 points and five assists, with Bella Fontleroy adding nine points and four boards while holding Tech's leading scorer, Jasmine Shavers, to just 10 points and 3-for-16 shooting.
 
Associate head coach Tony Greene, the team's defensive strategist, said he put the 6-foot Fontleroy on the 5-8 Shavers "to keep Bella's length on her."
 
"Bella's a very intelligent player and does really good things for us defensively," Greene said. "Maupin got off to a quick start in the first half, but I thought once we settled in, we started executing better."
 
Maupin scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the first half, when she knocked down two 3-pointers and was 4-for-7 overall.
 
The Bears kept pace with 14^th-ranked Kansas State (24-3, 12-2), tied atop the Big 12 standings, while 11^th-ranked TCU (22-3, 11-2) is a half game back and playing at Arizona Sunday afternoon. Baylor goes back on the road to face Colorado (17-8, 8-6) at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Boulder.