The Texas Tech Red Raider basketball team had a tough assignment to start Big 12 play: five games in 11 days, four games in eight days, and the last three games in five days. Let’s not forget they only had seven players for their first game against Iowa State, didn’t have star junior guard Kevin McCullar for their first two games, and didn’t have star junior guard Terrence Shannon, Jr. for their first four games.
Coming into Saturday, two of the four conference games were against top-ten teams in Kansas and Baylor, and the Red Raiders fought to win both of them in spectacular victories as they started conference play 3-1 and earned a No. 19 ranking.
Over that same span, the Texas Tech Lady Raider basketball team’s lone conference win was over then-No. 9 Texas, which was a historic win, but their other Big 12 games were gut-wrenching, especially the too-late comeback against now-No. 23 Oklahoma and a two-point loss to Oklahoma State at home.
Senior Vivian Gray was shooting just 31% in her last two games as she and the Lady Raiders couldn’t quite find a groove.
On Saturday, the roles flipped, as the No. 19 Red Raiders finally fell victim to a hard schedule in their fifth Big 12 game and a Kansas State team ready to get a Big 12 win, losing 62-51 in Manhattan, Kansas.
Three hours after the loss, the Lady Raiders showed the men how to take down Wildcats, defeating a 25th-ranked Kansas State team 64-45 in Lubbock, a team that was 3-1 in conference play heading into Saturday.
The Lady Raiders are now 2-3 in Big 12 play and 9-7 overall. They are 2-1 against current top-25 Big 12 teams and 0-2 against non-top-25 Big 12 teams.
“The last two games were just really frustrating because we got beat on our own controllables, like we didn’t take care of business and we know we can, and that’s what was most frustrating about those two games,” Tech junior Bryn Gerlich said, “and so coming to this game and taking care of those things that we know we can control, it just puts a lot of confidence in our team.”
Lady Raiders Put Their Foot on the Gas and Never Let Up
Let’s start by recapping the win and not the loss.
It was junior Bryn Gerlich and senior Lexy Hightower who scored the first 10 points for the Lady Raiders as they got out to a quick 10-2 lead, with star center Ayoka Lee the only Kansas State player that scored in that run.
Gray had missed her first three shots, but then she got scorching hot, missing just two more shots in the entire first half as she racked up 14 points, looking like the preseason All-American she is.
She said when she’s in an offensive groove, she doesn’t think as much.
“Honestly, I think that’s when nothing goes through my mind, which is when I play best, which is what Coach [Krista Gerlich] tells me to do all the time,” Gray said as she looked at the Gerlichs and the entire room chuckled. “I struggle with that because I get in my head a lot, but I think once I get into the rhythm, hit the first couple shots, then it just follows for me.”
Lee was the only Wildcat to get more than a single basket in the half, finishing the half with eight points, three rebounds and two blocks, all leading the team.
Tech was up 40-22 on the half, shooting a fantastic 51.5% from the field.
Kansas State got back into it, with freshman Serena Sundell scoring nine points in the third quarter and dishing out three assists to cut the Tech lead to 10, but Gray’s scoring kept it alive.
Bryn Gerlich got the first-quarter magic back, scoring seven points in the fourth to finish with a career-high 16 points while Tech held Kansas State to just two points in the final quarter.
Freshman Hadi Faye had a fantastic game with 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high five steals, while senior Taylah Thomas had three blocks.
Lee was held to just 12 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. Coming into the game, she was averaging a terrifying 24.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game.
“I thought they followed our plan to a T,” Tech head coach Krista Gerlich said, “and when you’re guarding a kid that’s so dominant on the inside, it’s really a three-prong defensive effort, and you’ve got to have great pressure on the ball, you’ve got to have a denial on the post and not let her have a direct entry, and then you’ve got to have some backside help, and I just thought all three levels were really executed well today.”
Gray, who finished with a season-high-tying 23 points, and Krista Gerlich said it was nice to have more students in the United Supermarkets Arena. Saturday’s game was part of the “Royalty for Loyalty” for advance student access to the Feb. 1 men’s basketball game against Texas.
“I thought the girls did a good job of hooking them, like I hope they did,” Krista Gerlich said before apologizing for using the ironic term.
Up Next
Hightower was hurt in the third quarter and was helped off the court after a lower leg injury. She was seen in a walking boot during the Matador Song after the game. Krista Gerlich said there were not any more updates on her status going forward.
Krista Gerlich also said junior Bre’Amber Scott has been out the last two games with an illness, and her status is day-to-day.
Tech will be back on the road for two games next week: Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. against TCU and Saturday at 4:00 p.m. against Kansas.
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