Coach Krista Gerlich earns marquee win over No. 21 Texas

(Photo CC: Texas Tech Athletics)

The Texas Tech Lady Raiders downed the No. 21 Texas Longhorns today by a score of 74-66. This is the first victory against a ranked team by the Lady Raiders this season and the first victory against Texas since 2013. This game was a game of chess between the two head coaches and Texas Tech Head Coach Krista Gerlich out-matched Texas Head Coach Vic Schaefer.

The key to winning this game for the Lady Raiders was keeping Texas’ post players at bay. Naje’ Murray in particular stayed in front of Texas’ best post Charlie Collier and when she was on the floor, Collier was mostly harmless. The 1-3-1 defense the team displayed on the floor wreaked havoc on Texas’ offense that focuses on getting the ball into the paint for their post players.

Not only did Gerlich and the coaching staff implement an excellent defensive strategy, but they also kept the Longhorn full-court press from making a huge impact on the game by switching up their press breakers. The team implemented a bunch of different sets including some that involved all five girls on the baseline.

Four Lady Raiders finished in double-figures led by Vivian Gray who finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds for her 4th double-double of the season. Lexi Gordon finished with 14 points and hit some clutch free-throws at the end of the game to put it out of reach. Naje’ Murray had 13 points and 4 rebounds, Maka Jackson made her second start of the season and had 11 points and 2 assists.

The Lady Raiders played a great game today and the team earned its second conference win of the season. They are 7-6 on the season and 2-5 in conference play. The Lady Raiders could move up to 6th in the conference standings with a win Wednesday night against Kansas.

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