It was Lady Raider head coach Krista Gerlich’s birthday, and she said this one ranks pretty high.
The Texas Tech Lady Raiders defeated Colorado 86-85 in a tight overtime game Wednesday to finish their home stretch of the Preseason WNIT at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Lady Raiders are 2-1 on the season and will close the Preseason WNIT on the road against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday.
Tech tied a program record for most free throws made in a game as they went 36-for-41 from the line, and they needed every single one to find a way to win.
An interesting fact about that: Gerlich said tonight, they were in a zone to where she did not even worry about it, but they did not shoot well from the line at all in practice.
“We did a shooting drill the other day, and we shot 50% one time, and then we did it again and shot 55%,” she said with a laugh. “We didn’t get any better [in practice], so it was fun to see them relax and stay focused, be mentally tough and go up to the line and be good shooters because they are good shooters.”
Although a champion is not officially crowned for the Preseason WNIT, Tech can finish the tournament with a 2-1 record if they beat Louisiana-Lafayette, which would be tied with Jackson State and Colorado.
Lubbock was picked to host most of the tournament. They hosted four games Tuesday and Wednesday: both Lady Raider home games and two neutral games with the other teams.
Recap
Texas Tech had a lot of trouble scoring early except at the line, mostly from senior Bre’Amber Scott, but they ended the first half on an 8-0 run thanks to their defense and extended it to a 15-0 run in the third quarter to tie the game.
Colorado finally answered, but it got Tech back in the game, and the Lady Raiders eventually took a 47-46 lead off a Bailey Maupin triple.
However, the Tech defense just could not hold all the way in the third quarter. After holding Preseason All-Pac-12 selection Jaylyn Sherrod to just two points in the first half, she went off for 14 in the third quarter alone to give Colorado a four-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Tech got back into it and both teams traded blows throughout the fourth quarter, but Colorado eventually got their four-point lead back after Sherrod made a short jump shot and junior Frida Formann made two free throws.
Junior Jazmaine Lewis got it within two points, and then Maupin took a charge with 31.9 seconds to go. Lewis could only make one free throw down two points, but Sherrod missed one of her own, setting up sophomore Rhyle McKinney to make two free throws and Scott to make a huge block as time expired to force overtime.
In OT, both teams continued to go back and forth, but Tech got the lead back from Lewis with what turned out to be the game-winning shot with 26.9 seconds left.
They did not let go, even as Colorado had a couple layups that were so close on the rim, and Tech got a key victory that they can build on for the rest of the season.
Player performances, looking ahead
Scott saw her first action since being injured Feb. 9 against Texas last season. She led Tech in scoring in that game with 14 points off an 11-for-14 performance from the free-throw line, and she made the first field goal of the game to announce her return, and she also had the huge block at the end of regulation.
Super-senior Bryn Gerlich had 10 points and four assists, and she showed a lot of leadership on defense and took a key charge during a big second-half run for the Lady Raiders. Both Scott and Gerlich, along with center Ella Tofaeono, are important leaders on a team with a lot of young talent.
Junior Jazmaine Lewis, who transferred from Houston, had a great game especially in the second half as Tofaeono got into foul trouble. She had 11 points with nine of them in the second half, and the only shot she missed was a free throw that she would probably want back, but it worked out as they still forced overtime and she made the game-winning shot.
Freshman Bailey Maupin has continued to show fearlessness as she is never afraid to take an open shot, and she ended up having her first 20-point performance.
“Coming in, I never really felt uncomfortable because of the work that we put in this summer,” Maupin said. “Going to Greece, I’ve had in-game experience over there, and then just being surrounded by great teammates who tell me if I’m doing something wrong, tell me where to go…so really, the transition hasn’t been bad at all.”
Through the start of the season, however, it has been McKinney leading everybody in the scoring department. Against Colorado, she had her third straight game of over 50% shooting. On 8-for-15 shooting, she scored a career-high 22 points the night after tying it with 21 in the Jackson State loss.
She said if she misses, she just forgets about it and moves on, and her shot has allowed her teammates to get open as well. McKinney added two assists tonight.
“I was getting guarded really tight tonight, and so then it opens up other players,” McKinney said. “Bailey was able to knock down so many shots, and I’m looking for players to get assists like that, and so, I love being able to play like this with my teammates, I feel so confident on the floor, and I just can’t even explain how much fun I have.”
The team looks like it has a good combination of leadership and young talent, especially now that Scott is now back for this team. McKinney and Maupin both said having her back is so important for this team.
“Bre has lots of experience that maybe me and Rhyle don’t necessarily have,” Maupin said, “and she comes in, and she’s just kind of the calming factor.”
The thing is, we’ve known most of that since game one.
Against Colorado, we saw the Lady Raiders figure out how to close a game and make big shots when it mattered, both from the field and at the line.
The intensity in the USA was noticeable late in the fourth quarter and through overtime, and it helped that there was fearlessness that made you believe they could get it done.
The fact that a freshman and a sophomore each had a 20-point game is crazy, and Krista Gerlich said it shows what the future will look like for this team.
So many times last year, fourth quarters got out of hand, and it continued this year. Sure, they were up a lot against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and still won the game, but they let Jackson State shoot 67% in the fourth quarter in a six-point loss.
After Louisiana on Sunday and the Las Vegas Invitational Nov. 25-26, Texas Tech will have seven easier home games to finish the non-conference schedule before starting Big 12 play against Iowa State, a team that Texas Tech never had an answer for last year.
This team is far from complete, but improvements continue to be made, and this was a great win in a test to see how Krista Gerlich’s squad can not only rebound from a tough loss, but also close a tight game when it matters.
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