Looking Ahead to Baylor, and Beyond

The Lady Raiders were able to pull out a win Wednesday night against the TCU Horned Frogs, as the program said good-bye to seniors Vivian Gray, Taylah Thomas, and Lexy Hightower. The hard-fought battle leaves Tech at 4-13 in conference, and 11-17 Overall.

The team will now head to Waco on Sunday to face the No. 5 ranked Baylor team to close out the season. Tech played Baylor in Lubbock back on January 26th, falling 88-80, in the midst of a six-game skid.

An upset in Waco will require strong showings by the senior class on both ends of the court. Tech will also have to try and limit the fouls, an area where they have consistently struggled this season. The team would do well to make every turnover count, the Lady Raiders have seen great success this year in games where they played good, strong defense.

The Lady Raiders are currently 8th in the Big 12 Conference, down from the 7th place finish last season. They finished 5-13 in Conference, and 10-15 overall in the 2020-21 season.

There is no doubt, that Coach Gerlich arrived in Lubbock with a mess to clean up in the wake of the Marlene Stollings fiasco. That kind of damage is not repaired overnight and under the circumstances she has done remarkably well.

However, as the season comes to a close and the team set to lose some of their biggest contributors, we are left with a number of questions. Will the younger players be able to step up and fill in the holes left by the departure of players like Gray and Thomas? Will Coach Gerlich be able to continue to repair the image of the Lady Raiders name and recruit to Lubbock?

Texas Tech is known for heroic returns of adored alumni to lead the teams they achieved so much success, who doesn’t love that? They are clearly a Red Raider through and through. However, the university and the fan base is left even more heartbroken when they are unable to attain the same success they saw on the field.