It’s the first postseason for Texas Tech women’s basketball in 10 years, and they weren’t going to let the opportunity end with just one game.
Tech (19-14) got out to a 25-13 lead in the first quarter and never looked back to defeat the UTEP Miners (20-12) 67-54 in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) at the United Supermarkets Arena.
And guess what? They’ll be back at the United Supermarkets Arena again Monday at 6pm to play SMU in the second round.
Krista Gerlich said she was super proud of Lady Raider nation coming out to support this team Thursday. The student section was small because of spring break, but the crowd was well-filled on both sidelines and even right behind one of the baselines for a fantastic atmosphere.
Tech will try to host every game they can, and this crowd seems to have been rewarded with another WNIT game Monday.
It’s Gerlich’s first postseason win as the head coach for Texas Tech, and it’s continuing a pattern where the team has improved every single season after she had to pretty much start from scratch when she got the job.
The WNIT can be a springboard for teams going into next season, and the Lady Raiders just might use it to gain even more momentum.
This team deserves it, and hopefully, we get to see them go as long as they possibly can. You can buy tickets here.
Everybody got to eat for Tech
All 12 players that were available for Tech had at least five minutes on the floor, and it was evident that this team was feeling it all night no matter who it was.
Freshman Bailey Maupin came off the bench to lead the Lady Raiders in scoring with 17 points, including two free throws to break a 2:18 scoring drought with under two minutes left in the game, then she hit the dagger triple on the next possession to put Tech up 11.
She went through her thought process on the dagger shot.
“I was just thinking, ‘Well, the time’s running down. I have the ball in my hand, so I’m gonna shoot it, and I’m gonna make it,’” Maupin said to the laughs of herself and everyone else in the room.
She also said the amount of basketball she got to play in high school, which includes winning the UIL 2A State Tournament MVP with Gruver (TX) High School last year, helped prepare her for this moment. She also credited her teammates that pass her the ball when she’s open, and she does the same for them.
Super-senior Bre Scott didn’t have her best shooting night, but she got to the line enough and finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Sophomore Rhyle McKinney was another young player who got it going, and she started the game with five of Tech’s first seven points on the way to a 12-point night.
Scott said it’s really good to see multiple young players play well in this game because that’s who they’re ultimately doing this for.
“Yeah, we have five seniors here, and we want to go out winning a championship of course, but it’s for the future,” Scott said. “So yeah, it’s great to see them have confidence and knocking down their shots. I screamed at Rhyle, ‘Shoot it!’, and she shot it, and she made it,” she said happily. “We want them to shoot the ball, we don’t say, ‘Oh no, don’t shoot it.’ We want them to shoot it.”
Super-senior Katie Ferrell came back after not playing against Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 tournament and played 17 minutes, getting six points and four assists in some big moments, including a three-pointer when UTEP cut the Tech lead to five points in the third quarter.
Maupin said Ferrell covers for a lot of mistakes, including the ones Maupin herself makes, and Ferrell can play any other position, making her irreplaceable.
Scott agreed and added Ferrell plays so hard and is always in the spot someone wouldn’t expect her to be in, but with Big Kat, it’s expected.
UTEP’s Erin Wilson led all scorers with 20 points off an uber-efficient 8-for-11 shooting, but three UTEP starters got in foul trouble and couldn’t find a way to make shots either.
“It’s just brutal to play friends”
The head coaches know each other a little better than in most matchups.
Tech head coach Krista Gerlich and UTEP head coach Kevin Baker know each other pretty well, to say the least. Baker became an assistant under Gerlich at West Texas A&M for five seasons starting in 2007.
Baker was successful in high school where he was a head coach for 10 seasons, but he said when he got to West Texas A&M, he said realized he didn’t know very much at all, and Gerlich taught him everything.
“I really don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have the opportunity to work under her leadership,” Baker said.” I hate to think about it, but it’s just one of those things where she did more than just help me as a young coach. She let me into her family, and I always felt part of her family. I think that’s the second-biggest thing I’ll take away other than just gaining basketball knowledge from her.”
He was fighting tears, especially early in the press conference where he praised Gerlich and said that really, he was glad the game was over at that point.
Gerlich said it was one of the hardest games she ever had to coach with Baker on the other half of the sideline.
“I told him before the game, I told him after the game: I’m so proud of him and all that he’s doing, and I know he’s proud of me as well,” Gerlich said, “and I remember us being back at West Texas A&M and both talking about our future and our dreams, and we are both living them right now.”
She said they talked before the bracket came out trying to figure out who they might play, and they knew it was a possibility before it was announced.
“It’s just brutal to play friends and especially people that you love,” Gerlich said, “but I thought it was a great game, and you know, I told him if we were going to have to play, at least it was in the postseason, so both of our teams were doing well.”
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