In one of its most physical games of the season to this point, the Kansas women’s basketball team dropped its road matchup with No. 16 Texas Tech 70-65 on Tuesday night.

The two teams combined for 50 fouls and 52 trips to the free-throw line during the matchup. The Jayhawks finished the evening 21-for-25 from the line, while Tech ended the night 22-for-27 from the charity stripe.

Five Kansas players had four or more fouls, with freshman forward Jaliya Davis fouling out late in the fourth quarter, forcing the Jayhawks to play without their usual top scorer during the most crucial minutes of the game.

Four Jayhawks finished the evening in double figures, with junior guard S’Mya Nichols leading the way with 16 points for the Jayhawks. Davis, on the heels of her sixth straight Big 12 freshman of the week award, contributed 14 points for Kansas, while senior guard Elle Evans and sophomore forward Regan Williams added 11 and 10, respectively.

Junior guard Brittany Harshaw gave KU a chance in the final minute with a 3-pointer with 20 seconds to go that cut the Jayhawks’ deficit to two, but after a 1-for-2 trip to the free-throw line for Tech’s Bailey Maupin, Harshaw got called for an illegal screen to thwart a key possession for the Jayhawks as they had a chance to tie things up. That gave control back to the Lady Raiders, who finished off the win soon afterward.

The game began with a jumper by Texas Tech, but Davis added the next six to give Kansas a 6-2 lead. Davis added a pair of free throws to extend that lead, but a pair of buckets from the Lady Raiders along with a pair of turnovers by the Jayhawks sent the teams into the under-five timeout with Kansas leading 8-7.

Senior guard Elle Evans joined the scoring with a 3 out of the break and the Jayhawks embarked on a 7-0 run, forcing a timeout from Tech.

Junior guard Laia Conesa added another bucket for Kansas before a pair of field goals for the Lady Raiders sent the game into the second quarter with the Jayhawks leading 17-11.

Texas Tech opened the quarter with back to back 3-pointers to knot the score at 17-17 before Maupin cashed in from deep to give the Lady Raiders their first lead of the game. Davis responded with a layup before the midway timeout to keep Kansas within one at 20-19.

Foul trouble for Davis and Nichols held them out of the final three minutes of the second quarter while both teams fought for every possession. A pair of layups and a jumper closed out the final five minutes for Kansas while the Lady Raiders didn’t allow them to get comfortable, and Tech took a 28-25 edge into halftime.

Out of the half, the Lady Raiders struck first with a layup and jumper, but the Jayhawks responded with six points of their own, including the first points of the night for Nichols, to cut the deficit back to one.

Three stoppages piled up and brought the game to a halt, but Texas Tech had all the momentum, pushing to as big as eight, but a 3-pointer by Evans and layup by sophomore forward Regan Williams helped Kansas stay in it through the end of the third.

The Lady Raiders took a 45-40 lead into the final period but Evans opened the quarter with a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game. Kansas proceeded to answer every Tech score with a bucket of its own. Senior forward Lilly Meister went to the line with a chance to tie things up, but she only made one free throw and the Jayhawks still trailed by one.

The two squads traded blows into the final two minutes, with Davis fouling out before Nichols drove and completed an and-1 to tie things at 59-59.

From there, it was a game completely defined by free throws. Texas Tech added six from the line to KU’s one and went up five before Harshaw knocked down her clutch 3 to keep the Jayhawks within one possession. That didn’t last, as after the offensive foul, Maupin went to the line and added two more to make it a two-possession game.

Williams made two free throws for Kansas to get the Jayhawks back within three in the final ten seconds, but the Lady Raiders responded from the free throw line to seal the game as a 70-65 Texas Tech win.

Kansas (15-11, 5-9) returns to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday for a Valentine’s Day matchup with the Houston Cougars. That game is scheduled for 4 p.m.