Texas Tech Basketball: Lady Raiders defeat UTEP in WNIT opener

The Texas Tech Lady Raiders hit the hardwood for the postseason Thursday night, hosting the UTEP Lady Miners in the opening round of the Women’s NIT Tournament. In front of the home crowd, the Lady Raiders got back to form and took care of business. A 67-54 victory gave the program their first postseason win in the WNIT since 2012.

Tech began shooting lights-out early in the first quarter. Rhyle McKinney hit two of the team’s five three-pointers in the quarter as the team built a 25-13 lead. She finished with 12 points for the game, shooting 50% from the field.

Bailey Maupin also had a great night, propelled by her strong second quarter. She finished with a team-leading 17 points and hit three three-pointers. Despite being outscored in the quarter, the Lady Raiders led by 11 at the half.

Tech was tested in the second half. UTEP scored 18 points in the third quarter to pull within nine points going into the fourth. The Lady Miners carried that momentum, eventually cutting the deficit to five on a basket by Jazion Jackson. UTEP was led all night by junior guard Erin Wilson who finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-11 shooting.

Once again it was Bre’Amber Scott who came up big when it counted the most. The senior scored five straight points to increase the Lady Raiders’ lead to ten. The run capped off by a driving layup where Scott fought hard to score and got the and-one opportunity.

Maupin finished the game with a dagger three-pointer that put Tech up 11 with 1:11 left. The Lady Miners had no answer down the stretch and the Lady Raiders walked off with a 13-point victory. For head coach Krista Gerlich, she could not have asked for much more from her team in their opening round game.

The win marked the Lady Raiders first postseason win since the 2011-12 team defeated Tulane in the second round of the WNIT. Thursday night’s win made it 19 on the season, the same amount as that team achieved. That postseason the Lady Raiders knocked off Eastern Illinois in the first round and Tulane in the second before bowing out against San Diego in the third.

Tech will now host the SMU Mustangs in the second round of group three on Monday at 6 P.M. The Mustangs defeated the Little Rock Trojans 68-42 on their home court in Dallas. SMU has three players averaging double figures led by Jasmine Smith who is averaging 12.7 points per game. The Mustangs finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference standings at 17-12 overall and 7-8 in conference play.

The Lady Raiders might not be playing in the “big tournament” but an opening round win like this can do wonders for a program looking to build for the future. This group of young women have a chance to put Texas Tech Lady Raider Basketball back on the map and if coach Gerlich can find a way to turn this WNIT appearance into a deep tournament run, the notoriety will skyrocket. The phrase always thrown around during March Madness is “survive and advance” and these Lady Raiders passed their first test.