No. 16 Texas Tech improved to 23-3 on the season and 10-3 in conference play holding a trio of valuable head-to-head advantages that puts the Lady Raiders in the driver's seat.
LUBBOCK, Texas - No. 16 Texas Tech escaped the United Supermarkets Arena with a 70-65 win over Kansas in a game that makes history for head coach Krista Gerlich and keeps the Lady Raiders in control of their own destiny as the Big 12 schedule turns down the home stretch.
The victory marked Gerlich's 100th as the head coach at her alma mater. Senior guard Bailey Maupin powered the team's offensive output with 23 points, shooting 6-of-15 from the field and hitting nine of her 10 free throw attempts.
Gerlich, a contributing piece of the program's only national championship roster in 1993, took over the program as head coach in 2020. She is likely the frontrunner to win Big 12 Coach of the Year honors for what would be the first time in her career after leading the Lady Raiders to their best start to a season in program history in 2025-26.
With one more win, Gerlich will tie her career coaching win total with the amount she earned as a player during her four years under legendary coach Marsha Sharp (1989-93). Gerlich has 389 wins in her head coaching career, which includes stops at West Texas A&M and UT Arlington.
Now 23-3 and 10-3 in Big 12 play, Texas Tech is one of just a few teams to have complete control over their own destiny as we approach March and the end of the regular season.
The Lady Raiders have a conference-low in losses and hold three crucial head-to-head wins over conference-leader West Virginia (11-3), and the two teams below Tech, TCU (10-3) and Baylor (10-3).
Up next for the Lady Raiders is a Valentine's Day trip to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State (19-7, 8-5 Big 12). The Cowgirls knocked the Lady Raiders out of the Big 12 Tournament last season.
Gerlich will hope for more steady leadership from Maupin, as well as continued production from her bench. Texas Tech is averaging the eighth-most bench points in the country at 29.7 per game. There have been 11 games where the team has posted least 30 bench points.
Snudda Collins leads the team in that category, as she did against the Jayhawks with 17 points off the bench - which is more combined points than the entire starting lineup sans Maupin.
The regular season has just five games remaining: at Oklahoma State, vs. No. 12 Baylor, at Colorado, at Kansas and vs. Arizona State.