Texas Tech women’s basketball is back in the NCAA Tournament after 13 years, and the Lady Raiders bring momentum, defense and belief into Baton Rouge.
Texas Tech Lady Raiders basketball is dancing again, and that sentence means something in Lubbock.
For the first time since 2013, Texas Tech women’s basketball is back in the NCAA Tournament, ending a 13-year wait and giving this program a postseason spotlight it has been chasing for more than a decade.
The Lady Raiders open against Villanova on Friday night in Baton Rouge, and after the season they’ve built, nobody around this team is showing up just happy to be invited.
That’s not the vibe. This group has earned every bit of attention coming its way. Texas Tech enters the tournament at 25-7 overall after going 12-6 in Big 12 play, good enough to tie for fourth in one of the toughest leagues in the country.
This isn’t some fluky run or soft-schedule story. The Lady Raiders stacked real wins, stayed nationally relevant for weeks, and forced people to take them seriously.
A huge reason is the scoring punch of Bailey Maupin and Snudda Collins. Maupin leads the team at 15.1 points per game, while Collins adds 14.8 points per game after a breakout season that earned her Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors.
They’ve given Texas Tech a dangerous one-two offensive combo, and when the Lady Raiders get rolling, they can put teams on their heels fast.
But this team isn’t built on offense alone.
Defensively, Texas Tech has teeth. Jalynn Bristow has been a wrecking ball around the rim with 68 blocks, while also swiping 40 steals.
Gemma Nunez and Denae Fritz have added 67 and 64 steals, helping create the kind of pressure that can turn games in a hurry.
And then there’s Krista Gerlich, who has completely changed the temperature of this program. The Big 12 Coach of the Year guided Texas Tech to a 19-0 start, a top-25 run that lasted 11 straight weeks, and signature wins over West Virginia, TCU, and Baylor twice.
Now comes the biggest stage.
Villanova is first. LSU could be next. But Texas Tech didn’t wait 13 years to show up quietly. The Lady Raiders are back, and they look ready to make noise.