Lady Raiders Cap Special Weekend of Texas Tech Sports Behind Collins Breakout

The football team had the nation’s attention. ESPN’s College GameDay was in town. Holly Rowe visited the women’s basketball practice Saturday morning. And amid it all, the Lady Raiders refused to let the weekend leave Lubbock without their own exclamation point.

“What a great weekend of Red Raider sports,” said Texas Tech head coach Krista Gerlich. “We wanted to put an exclamation point on the weekend with a win today and finish it off. Really proud of our kids battling through. We’ve played three games in six days and it’s been tough but it’s given us a lot to look at and a lot of kids in the rotation.”

Fueled by a not always perfect but relentless defense and a blistering 16–0 second-quarter run, Texas Tech handled business in their 83–50 win over Texas State on Sunday at United Supermarkets Arena. Standout play from Snudda Collins (20 pts), Jalynn Bristow (22 pts, 3 stl, 3 blk), and Sidney Love (12 pts, 3 ast on 4-for-4 FG, 3-for-3 3PT), helped the Lady Raiders move to 3–0 while holding one of the nation’s most dynamic scorers in check.

Highlights vs Texas State | November 9, 2025 ⬇️ #WreckEm | ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/ECsUhpoFl1
— Lady Raider Basketball (@LadyRaiderWBB) November 9, 2025

The Spark and the Statement

If there was one sequence that defined the afternoon, it came with 2:20 remaining in the second quarter.

Up just 34–30, Texas Tech rattled off a 16–0 run to close the half. Turning a tight contest into a 50–30 margin in a span of moments that showed glimpses of what this team could be at their best.

“I think it’s about energy and intensity, to be honest,” said Gerlich. “We’ve played with quite a bit of defensive intensity in all three games – not always as sharp as we want it to be, because you’re a perfectionist and you want it perfect every time. But when we get the perfect effort from them, they’re going to be really, really tough. And I think that was kind of the perfect storm because we weren’t shooting the ball really well before that 60 seconds either.”

The stretch was sparked in particular by Snudda Collins, who scored 12 points in this run, adding a block and transition assist to stir the Texas Tech crowd into a frenzy.

It was all a culmination of what has been building for the senior returning to the game after a year away.

“I definitely had a few jitters the first two games,” Collins said. “This game, I was like, you know… after those first two games, it was time for me to step up and get it going now.”

She started the game as a spark off the bench and started the second half on the floor. For her though starter or spark, her mindset is the same.

“If you’re a winner, it doesn’t… you don’t really think about that,” Collins said. “At the end of the day, you know what you bring. It doesn’t really matter to me.”

That approach is exactly why Krista Gerlich trusts her in whatever role the game requires.

“She can come in at any position… the 1, the 2, the 3, the 4, the 5 if we need her to,” Gerlich said. “I love that she gives us an instant spark… she just wants to win.”

The Other Assignment: 34 Points Wasn’t Happening Again

If offense opened the door, defense slammed it shut.

Texas State guard Saniya Burks entered Sunday after a 34-point eruption in the Bobcats’ opener. For Texas Tech, that number was circled and taken personally by a group that stands on defense.

“There’s no way anybody should come in here and score 30-some points on us,” Collins said. “That means we’re not doing our job.”

Sidney Love echoed the sentiment. “It was one of our goals to stop that player. We take pride on the defensive end.”

Burks however did announce herself early, drilling a corner three on her first look. The response from the Tech sideline was immediate.

“It made the entire bench and coaching staff upset when she hit the opening three and that was not how that was going to go down,” Gerlich said. “So I thought our kids did a pretty good job of locking in after that and really keying on her.”

From that point forward, Burks was held to seven more points the rest of the afternoon, finishing with 10 on 4-of-11 shooting – one point outside of the goal the Lady Raiders set to keep her in single digits.

A significant part of that collective success belonged to Denae Fritz, who drew primary assignments in key stretches and consistently disrupted Burks’ rhythm.

Fritz finished with a +31 plus/minus and three steals, rarely allowing Burks to get comfortable in her preferred spots.

“I thought Denae had a really good game,” Gerlich said. “We weren’t going to face guard her… the ball screen defense had to be great. Our backside coverage had to be great so Denae wasn’t left on an island deciding do I help or do I run out.”

It wasn’t perfect defense on every possession, Gerlich noted they allowed way too many paint points. But it was something she felt they corrected when challenged at half to close out a 33 point win.

“Their activity on the glass was too much for us and they were driving by us. We were letting them get to the paint and create open looks for their teammates early. All of that got addressed at halftime. I thought we did a better job of it in the second half.”

Everything Else

Gemma Núñez had eight assists in the first half alone and finished with 10 assists and only two turnovers in 25 minutes played.
It marked the third game in a row, all three played this season, that the Lady Raiders had at least four players score in double figures.
Sidney Love made her season debut with a perfect line going 4-4 from the field, 3-3 from three, to finish with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in hr 23 minutes played.
Jalynn Bristow continued her quietly dominant start to the season with a 22 point, 6 rebound, 3 steals and 3 blocks performance with 10 of those points coming in the first quarter to set the tone.

What’s Next: vs. SMU Thursday 11/13 in Lubbock 6pm

After a stretch of three games in six days to start their season they turn the page to three games against power conference opponents in a row. That starts with Southern Methodist University on Thursday night at 6 pm in Lubbock. SMU (1-1) is led by former Arizona coach Adia Barnes and is coming in off a buzzer-beater loss to Kansas State on Saturday.