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Krista Gerlich restores championship roots of Texas Tech women's basketball
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- Krista Gerlich restores championship roots of Texas Tech women's basketball
The No. 18 Texas Tech Lady Raiders (19-0) are one of three undefeated teams in women's college basketball, slowly climbing up the national rankings with each win.
But, even with a perfect record, they don't want anything handed to them.
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"From the get-go, I told our kids, I'm like, 'Guys, you're going to have to earn everything. Every piece of this year, you're going to have to earn, and even when you earn it, you're going to have to earn it again,'" Texas Tech head coach Krista Gerlich told USA TODAY Sports.
"It's never going to be just assumed because ― 'Oh, Texas Tech, they should be in the top 10 because they're undefeated.' I'm like no. We're going to absolutely have a résumé that shows why we should be there, not just because we're undefeated."
Gerlich calls the Lady Raiders undefeated start "surreal," but says she and her staff have known since last year that the team was special. In July 2025, Texas Tech represented the USA in the FISU World University Games , a 12-day competition where student-athletes from more than 150 countries compete for medals in 18 sports. The Lady Raiders finished with a silver medal after an 81-69 loss to China.
Winning silver gave Texas Tech something to build on, Gerlich said. The Lady Raiders, who play Kansas State in a Big 12 conference game Saturday, knew they had a solid core of six players returning and a total of nine seniors.
The Texas Tech coach encouraged her veteran roster to play every game as if it's their last. They have more than delivered with 19 wins, tying the program's single-season win streak set by the 1992-1993 national championship roster. The Lady Raiders' 6-0 start in conference play for the first in more than 25 years.
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Defensively, the Lady Raiders' ability to hold teams to 23.7% behind the arc and 33.1% from the field is ranked sixth in both categories. They are also top 15 in blocks per game (5.7). On the offensive side of the ball, Texas Tech is top 20 in bench points per game (28.6) and top 25 in scoring margin (21.7 points).
"We're not surprised, if you will, but at the same time, 19-0 is ridiculous," Gerlich said, laughing. "We didn't expect that by any means. I think we're just pleasantly surprised that our approach has been paying off."
The Lady Raiders' prowess on the court isn't the only thing that has made them stand out this season. Gerlich and her staff made history earlier this year by adding Stephanie Okechukwu, a 7-foot-1 freshman center from Nigeria. Okechukwu is the tallest player in women's college basketball, surpassing 6-foot-10 centers Nicole Dominguez of Middle Tennessee State and Abbie Boutilier of Eastern Illinois.
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Okechukwu, whom Gerlich described as "an incredibly lady," is awaiting an eligibility ruling from the NCAA. The Lady Raiders are hopeful the freshman center will play this season. Gerlich revealed that after Okechukwu had her visa denied multiple times, the Nigerian center was all but ready to give up on basketball. "She is 7-foot-1- of pure joy and has such a great heart," Gerlich said. "... I would say the thing about her is that she loves basketball, and she understands it's an avenue for her to be able to get an education, for her to be able to pursue her dreams of being a professional player.
"The amount of gratitude that that kid has, and her story itself ― I hope the world will learn about her story in due time because it's truly incredible."
Okechukwu is one piece of the puzzle in goal Gerlich set when she arrived back to the program in 2020: make the NCAA Tournament. The former Texas Tech guard, who played under famed coach Marsha Sharp and was on the 1993 championship roster, wants to return the program to the standard her former coach established. Sharp spent 24 years in Lubbock from 1982 to 2006 and won the school's only women's basketball title in 1993. The Lady Raiders played in the NCAA Tournament 18 times under Sharp.
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The program has only made the Big Dance twice since Sharps' departure. The last appearance came in 2013 under the then-head coach Kristy Curry. Gerlich spent seven seasons as head coach at West Texas A&M and another seven as head coach at UT Arlington before being hired at Texas Tech. "We're not just trying to get into the tournament. We want to get in the tournament [and] advance in the tournament. We're not gonna put a cap on what we can achieve," Gerlich said.
"'Ope. Your big dreams are gonna end at this point. You can only get to the second round. Or you can only get to whatever.' I'm living proof that you can do really great things and not be a superstar."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas Tech women's basketball returns to top with 'surreal' 19-0 record
