Well, Krista Gerlich and the Texas Tech Lady Raiders haven’t exactly had all that much fun over the past few weeks. I mean, this is a Texas Tech women’s basketball team that got the season started by making history and jumping out to a 19-0 start. At one point, it really looked like Texas Tech would be able to go out and compete for the Big 12 regular season crown.
And then things kinda fell apart for the Lady Raiders in a disastrous way.
Things fell out from under Gerlich and the Lady Raiders. Texas Tech went 2-4 in the last six games that they played. Unfortunately, that included a Big 12 tournament first-round exit in the form of a seven-point loss to the Kansas State Wildcats.
Now, as Texas Tech gets set to enter the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, the Lady Raiders are the No. 25 team in the AP poll and they’re riding a disastrous wave of awful momentum. Which, you know, not great! Far from ideal!
And Villanova is coming up.
Texas Tech’s slide at the end of the regular season really makes me worried about this NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament
This season has been a great one and it’s sometimes hard to remember that in the midst of the recent issues that the Lady Raiders have had. Texas Tech was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year, Snudda Collins earned the Sixth Player of the Year, and this team has looked really impressive at times.
Unfortunately, the wheels have fallen off in recent games.
Going back towards the start of this late-season skid and you’ll find that the Oklahoma State Cowgirls managed to outrebound the Lady Raiders 36-26 in what was a frustrating 10-point loss on the road in Stillwater.
Which is weird because then Texas Tech returned home to Lubbock and beat the No. 14 ranked Baylor Bears by 31 points. Maybe Texas Tech was overlooking Oklahoma State as the Lady Raiders got set for the Bears?
I don’t know.
After that, things really got messy and weird.
Against Colorado, Texas Tech managed to make over 59 percent of its shots. The Lady Raiders made just shy of 54 percent of their shots from three point range. And of course, Texas Tech ended up losing on the road in a game where they grabbed a grand total of 18 rebounds.
Over in Lawrence, Kansas, Texas Tech struggled to make its shots from deep, draining just 20 percent of its threes and then scored a grand total of seven points in the fourth quarter. And the Lady Raiders lost to a Jayhawks team that they probably should’ve been able to beat.
In the final home game of the regular season, Texas Tech handled business against Arizona State, but that was a game where the Lady Raiders managed to turnover the ball a horrifying and alarming 21 times.
And then there’s the Kansas State Big 12 tournament mess where Texas Tech turned a 10-point third quarter lead into a seven-point loss as the Lady Raiders managed to make just two of their 16 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
So yeah, I don’t feel great. Granted, it’s been essentially two weeks since Gerlich and the Lady Raiders were able to get out on the court. So, maybe things can improve a bit after a bit of a break? I don’t know. We’ll see.
Texas Tech’s scoring dipped considerably during that stretch as the Lady Raiders haven’t scored more than 60 points since February 21. There were a few fourth quarter collapses. There’s not going to be a home court advantage for this game. I’m a little worried.