Head coach Krista Gerlich announced that Texas Tech will take part in the 2026 WBCA Showcase.
LUBBOCK - Fresh off one of the best regular seasons in program history, newly-extended head coach Krista Gerlich announced that the Texas Tech Lady Raiders will step further into the national spotlight with a major non-conference showcase added to the 2026-27 schedule.
Texas Tech will be one of eight teams taking part in the third-annual WBCA Showcase, this fall hosted in Orlando at the ESPN Wide World of Sports campus.
The showcase will be held Nov. 19-22 at State Farm Field House. Texas Tech will compete against North Carolina, Purdue and USF in the round-robin schedule. Other teams attending include Alabama, Florida State, Florida A&M and UCF.
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Last season, North Carolina went 28-8 and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament before falling to UConn.
Texas Tech transfer point guard Kiki Smith will be taking on her former team when the Lady Raiders face the Boilermakers. Smith was Purdue's starting point guard for 21 of the 30 games and finished second on the team in scoring.
The 2025-26 Lady Raiders reached their first NCAA tournament Round of 32 in 20 years, and with a 26-8 overall record, totaled the most wins in a season since the 2002-03 team.
Led by senior captain Bailey Maupin, the Lady Raiders compiled a 15-2 mark inside United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock and went 7-5 on the road and 4-1 in neutral-site contests.
While Maupin and fellow senior contributors have moved on, Gerlich has reloaded the roster with a flurry of high-level transfer additions, along with coveted high school talent.
Rhema Collins leads the way for the newcomers. The 6-2 senior forward comes to Texas Tech as the reigning Conference USA Newcomer and Player of the Year while at Florida International. Collins led the Panthers and the conference in scoring with 17.7 points per game, along with 14 double-doubles on the year.
Collins is likely to be joined on the inside by 7-1 center Stephanie Okechukwu, who hails from Nigeria and joined the Lady Raiders midway through last season, but has yet to make her debut.
In total, Collins is joined by a five-player transfer class that includes Tahys Da Silva, Kiki Smith, Destinee Hooks and Jalayah Ingram.
Headlining the crop of freshmen is a star-studded quartet of high school prospects: Gianna "GiGi" Jordan, Natalia Jordan, Milania "MiMi" Jordan (all siblings), and Ambrosia "Bro Bro" Cole.
The Jordan sisters each come with notable high school endorsements. GiGi is a top-75 national recruit and one of the best point guard recruits in the country. She is joined by her sister, Natalia, who is the No. 22-ranked recruit in the state and has a 50-point game on her high school resume. MiMi is a top-15 prospect in the state after anchoring a team that won three district titles in undefeated fashion.
Cole is a local product of Lubbock Monterrey and a former teammate of No. 1 overall recruit Aaliyah Chavez, who just completed a strong freshman season at Oklahoma. Cole is a four-star prospect, ranked inside the top-10 in Texas and No. 92 in the nation, according to Tech Athletics.
This trio of games in Orlando are the first official games to begin the 2026-27 schedule. The Lady Raiders will compete in two summer games in Canada, against the University of British Columbia on Aug. 8 and University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus on Aug. 10.
"With the graduation of nine seniors, we felt the need to give our 11 new players extra time together - extra time to practice, compete, and build chemistry before the season begins in the fall," Gerlich said. "Clearly, we saw the benefits of this type of summer opportunity las year and want to give this team as much of an advantage as we can. Just the team togetherness and bonding experiences is invaluable in itself, but the extra time on the court will go a long ways, especially with our six freshman."
"A huge thank you to our donors for seeing the benefits as well and giving us the support needed for us to fund this trip," Gerlich added. "We are excited to take the Texas Tech brand internationally again an continue to the Double T a universal, household name."
