Texas Tech's comeback season continues with a trip to the Round of 32 after a nail-biting win over Villanova.
In their first trip back to the NCAA Tournament in over a decade, Texas Tech survived a battle with Villanova 57-52 in a tight 7-10 contest to advance to Sunday's Second Round.
The win marks the first for the Lady Raiders in March Madness since the 2005 season.
Former Big 12 rivals turned Texas Tech teammates Bailey Maupin and Danae Fritz powered the Lady Raiders with 17 points and 13 points. Fritz also drained a team-high three (3) 3-pointers and missed only one of her attempts from deep.
For Villanova, the triple-threat of Jasmine Bascoe, Kelsey Jones and Brynn McCurry went for 18, 14 and 13, respectively.
Despite their high numbers, the rest of the Wildcats were smothered by the Lady Raiders. Denae Carter was the lone other member of Villanova to reach the scoresheet, as five other Wildcats were held scoreless.
While the Wildcats had higher scorers, Texas Tech took advantage of its depth throughout the lineup.
Compared to Villanova, seven of the eight Lady Raiders scored in the game. This includes eight-point outings from both Jada Malone and Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year Snudda Collins off the bench.
Texas Tech also made the most of the shots they took, going 44 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc in fewer attempts than the Wildcats.
Head coach Krista Gerlich has completely turned her alma mater around this season. The 1993 National Champion struggled to restore the Lady Raiders back to national prominence in her previous five seasons.
Entering year six, things finally began to change for Texas Tech.
After being picked to finish 13th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, the Lady Raiders rattled off 19 straight wins and climbed up the conference standings.
The Lady Raiders defeated usual powerhouses in Baylor, TCU and West Virginia en route to a record-tying 25-6 overall record in the regular season. They also recorded their most wins in the Big 12 (12) to tie for 4th in the final standings.
The No. 7-seed Texas Tech will look to continue to defy expectations in a Second Round showdown with 2-seed LSU on the Tigers' home court.
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