Texas Tech women’s basketball saw its NCAA Tournament run end with a loss to LSU, closing a 26-8 season that still marked a major step forward.
Texas Tech women’s basketball had its NCAA Tournament journey end Sunday, as LSU pulled away for a 101-47 win in the second round and knocked the Lady Raiders out of March Madness.
The loss was a tough finish, but it also closed the book on one of the program’s most encouraging seasons in years.
The Lady Raiders finished 26-8, their highest win total since 2002-03, and reached the Round of 32 for the first time since 2005. That made the ending sting, but it didn’t erase what this Texas Tech team accomplished along the way.
Bailey Maupin did everything she could in her final game, scoring 19 points with three made 3-pointers while adding four rebounds, three assists and a steal.
The senior topped 500 points for the second straight season and wrapped up a standout career ranked among the best in program history in scoring, free throws and 3-point production.
Snudda Collins added eight points, two 3-pointers, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal, while Denae Fritz chipped in six points, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
“I sure take a lot of pride in it [on exceeding expectations],” Maupin said.
“This is something that we’ve been working on for a lot of years, especially myself for four years. We have been working to get to this position. We got to this position, we advanced and like [Coach Gerlich] said, LSU’s a really, really good basketball team. At the end of the day, we gave it what we could, but moving forward, knowing that we got the program back to where I think it deserves to be and will continue to be for a long time is an honor.”
Collins echoed that sense of perspective.
“Honestly, when I first came [to Texas Tech], I had no idea this year was going to go the way it went,” Collins said.
“When I came in, obviously I wanted to have a better year than I had previously, so I kind of bought into that. I trusted Coach Gerlich, all of the coaching stuff and what they presented to me, and it just worked out.”
Texas Tech was eliminated Sunday, but the Lady Raiders leave the tournament having restored belief that the program is climbing again.
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