BY TRAVIS CRAM l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Texas Tech’s 59-52 loss Saturday night to No. 25 Iowa State puts the Lady Raiders in a position they wanted to avoid — win the final two games to try an sneak into the NCAA Tournament.

“There are so many different scenarios that could happen and we will not quit,” Tech head coach Kristy Curry said. “Our focus right now isn’t on the ‘do or die’ scenario, but on going to Oklahoma and getting a win Wednesday.”

But the loss to the Cyclones did even more damage than Tech might have expected.
Other Big 12 teams have found ways to win lately, while Tech (15-13, 5-9 Big 12 Conference) has dropped five of its last seven games and won only two of six conference games at home.
Kansas — whom Tech beat handedly, 57-49, Jan. 17 in Lawrence, Kan., to hold the tiebreaker — has won its last three games after losing seven of its first nine conference games.

Texas Tech's Dominic Seals (41) battles for the ball against Iowa State's Heather Ezell (15) during their game Saturday evening at United Spirit Arena. (Merissa Ferguson/Avalanche-Journal)

Both teams have tough games ahead to try and finish at 7-9 in conference play.
Tech travels to Norman, Okla., Wednesday, to take on No. 2 Oklahoma, while Kansas will host No. 6 Baylor. The Jayhawks then face Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, and Tech will finish at home against Missouri.

To make it simple, this is more about who will end up as the seventh seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament and who will be eighth. Both of KU’s opponents are ranked in the top 25 and the Cyclones won easily in Lawrence in the first meeting, 58-47.
Kansas has not beaten Baylor in 10 years.

And as easy as a 4-10 Missouri team may appear to be based on its record, the Lady Raiders know it will mean little toward an NCAA Tournament berth without a win against the Sooners at the Lloyd Noble Center, where Tech has won only twice at (2003, 2005) since 2000.
If the Lady Raiders don’t beat the Sooners on their home floor, they might get another crack at them a week later, just 30 miles north in Oklahoma City.

If the conference tournament began today, Tech would face Missouri — again — in the first round as the No. 7 seed and Kansas would be the No. 8 seed and face Oklahoma State.
Oklahoma State is virtually out of the NCAA tourney unless it manages to win the Big 12 and clinch the automatic berth.

But the Tigers are just one of four likely opponents Tech could see. Oklahoma State, Nebraska or even Kansas could wind up in the Nos. 7, 8, 9 or 10 spots, depending on how things go. All five teams area separated by just one game with two to play. And Colorado could get into the mix, as well. The Buffaloes trail OSU, Nebraska and Missouri by a game.

Ending up at any seed from 7-to-10 means getting the reward of facing either the Sooners or Baylor in the second round. But a victory there could almost lock up a spot for a 7-9 or 6-10 Tech team.

“You hope that they’re going to take seven teams (from the Big 12),” Curry said. “Who knows? 6-10, 7-9, do they take into consideration what happened at Nebraska or do they not. We can sit here and play this and that, but the bottom line is going to Oklahoma and winning.”
So maybe Curry is right, and there are a number of things that could still allow Tech to get into the tournament. The only question is which players will decide to show up in the final two games.

The Lady Raiders have looked unbeatable at times against No. 16 Texas and No. 12 Texas A&M, but have shot as poor as 17.8 percent in a single half this season (New Mexico) and shot a home season-low 27.8 percent in the loss Saturday night to the Cyclones.
Tech has not won its final two regular season games since 2000-01 and hasn’t won the Big 12 postseason tournament since 1999.

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