Oklahoma rallies past Texas Tech 75-74
Gabby Gregory
Photo: OU Athletics
LUBBOCK, TX — Oklahoma opened the final period down five and then fell behind by nine, but Taylor Robertson heated up and the Sooners won 75-74 in the end.
It was OU’s first road win this season and its first in Lubbock since 2018.
Oklahoma trailed 68-59 with four minutes left, but a quick 6-0 burst, fueled by a Gabby Gregory 3-pointer with 1:21 left, tied it at 70.
Alexis Tucker got free inside for an easy layup to put the Red Raiders up two with under a minute to play, but OU responded with another 3 from Robertson — her seventh of the night for 24 points — to go up 73-72 with 37 seconds to play.
Following a timeout, Tech's Maka Jackson scored on a drive to put the Raiders up 74-73, but the Sooners answered again when Mandy Simpson drew a foul and buried both free throws with eight seconds to play.
“This is probably the best thing that could have happened to our team because we had to win with defense,” said head coach Sherri Coale. “We have such confidence in our offense, we believe we can score any time any where. But defense, we haven’t quite had the results from that. And so when we had to win this game by getting a stop and we were able to do that — a stop and a rebound — that’s a really good development.”
The Sooners led by as many as 12 in the first half, but then got outscored 22-8 in the third quarter.
Vivian Gray led Texas Tech with 24 points on 10-of-19 shots and seven rebounds. Gray was 0-for-4 from 3-point range, however, as the Red Raiders were 4-of-17 behind the stripe.
“Gabby Gregory will be the unsung hero of this one,” Coale said. “Everybody will talk about T-Rob going 7-for-10, which was unbelievable. She was incredible. But man, Gabby battling for 40 minutes and having to guard Vivian for most of that because of our foul situation … Gabby Gregory’s resilience is special. I’m glad she’s on our team.”
OU improved to 4-5 on the season and 1-3 in Big 12 play, while Texas Tech dropped to 6-4 and 1-3.
The Sooners host TCU Saturday at 3 p.m. (Fox Sports Oklahoma).
