Rachel Seymour

Junior guard Erica Hallman dribbles past Colorado freshman guard Yari Escalera. Hallman scored 18 points and tallied eight assists during the game Sunday afternoon. Hallman and the Jayhawks take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders at 8 tonight in Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas women’s basketball team’s four-game home stand continues, but the confines of Allen Fieldhouse will become a little less hospitable tonight with a showdown against Texas Tech.

Coming off a 76-54 beating of Colorado on Sunday, Kansas will find a much tougher test in No. 13 Texas Tech, 17-5 (8-3 Big 12 Conference).

“We understand how good they are and how good we would have to play to beat them,” Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said.

The 7 p.m. tip-off is the second game of the home stand for the Jayhawks and the beginning of a stretch when they play four of their remaining games against ranked opponents.

“In this league, you’ve got great competition and we’ve got staring us in the face a little run,” Henrickson said. “Right now, the most important one is Texas Tech.”

The game is equally crucial for the Raiders, who find themselves in a dead heat for the lead in the Big 12 standings. With their 8-3 conference record, the Raiders can jump into first place if they win and the Baylor Bears lose.

Texas Tech is coming off a 64-43 setback at Texas. The defeat dropped the Raiders into a four-way logjam for second place in conference.

During the final stretch of the regular season, Kansas will face three of the top five other teams that are fighting it out with Texas Tech.

A recent victory for Kansas has buoyed the spirits of a team that stands at 11-11 (4-7).

Even with the adversity of the late season schedule, Henrickson said her team’s confidence was where it needed to be at this point in the year. However, that does not change their views of the Raider team that will invade the fieldhouse.

“This group is hungry and they love to compete,” Henrickson said. “But they go into the game with a tremendous amount of respect for Texas Tech.”

Junior guard Kaylee Brown echoed her coach’s sentiment.

“We have to play together and play well,” Brown said. “They’re very, very good.”

In order to hang with the Raiders, the Jayhawks will need a repeat performance of their last game, their most lopsided Big 12 victory of the season.

Against Colorado, the inside presence of junior forward Crystal Kemp was paired with two potent scoring performances from guards Erica Hallman and Brown. The three Jayhawks combined for 52 of the team’s 76 total points against Colorado.

A similar performance by the trio will be necessary to give Kansas an opportunity for the upset against Texas Tech.

Kemp has been the key to the offense in opening up the court for the Jayhawk guards to hit from the outside.

Henrickson said that despite Kemp’s successes during her Kansas career, her steady improvement and addition of a reliable jump shot have helped mold her into the cornerstone of the team.

“Developing into a complete player is where she will help us going into the end of this year and next year,” Henrickson said.

Following her 17-point performance on Sunday, Kemp stands only one point away from becoming the program’s 18th 1,000-point scorer.

Including Texas Tech, the Jayhawks have five regular season games left before the Big 12 Tournament.