Lady Raiders Punch Back: Texas Tech Toughness Shines in 69–62 Win Over Mississippi State
“Be tougher.”
Texas Tech senior guard Bailey Maupin said bluntly when asked what the message was between a first quarter that saw Texas Tech trailing 31–16 and a second quarter in which the Lady Raiders turned the game on its head, outscoring Mississippi State 15–2.
“Be tougher, get rebounds, make shots. Do all the little things.”
When a usually sharp shooting group struggled from deep, it was their grit that led them to a 69–62 win, handing the visiting Bulldogs their first loss of the season and moving Texas Tech to 6–0.
On a night defined by toughness, it felt fitting a Dust Storm Warning blared out on everyone’s phones a few hours prior. Pull aside, stay alive, it read. And then, just thirty minutes after the dust bowled through, a perfect West Texas sky emerged.
It was a bit of symbolism not lost on head coach Krista Gerlich postgame.
“West Texas is blue-collar people… we know how to work, we’re tough,” she said. “Did we have a haboob today? Sort of, kind of, almost… it’s common nature, like that’s just what we do.”
A 15-point first-quarter deficit fit right in. An inconvenience. A momentary pull aside. Stay alive, regroup, get back to it.
Mississippi State scored 31 points in the opening 10 minutes and then 31 total over the final 30 as Tech flipped the game with suffocating—yet fundamentally sound—defense, ball pressure and overall havoc.
“I thought our kids and our staff adjusted so well… in the second and third quarters, we did it at an elite level,” Gerlich said. “We took away what they wanted to do.”
Maupin said part of that shift was simply waking up to who they are.
“It felt like we were acting like we shouldn’t be here,” she said of the message between players after that first quarter. “We deserve to be here. We deserve to be playing in big games like this… As soon as we got our heads with it, we were ready.”
A big catalyst in that was senior Snudda Collins who perhaps had an extra chip on her shoulder in this one as a Mississippi native going up against a former “rival” after she spent her first four years of college playing at Ole Miss. Collins was everywhere in that pivotal second quarter stretch but most importantly she owned the boards, grabbing seven in that quarter alone. Six coming on the defensive end.
“I thought Snudda was the difference in the second quarter defensively,” Gerlich said. “She was rebounding the basketball at a really high level against some bigger opponents.” She added that Snudda “had a different look in her eye” leading into the matchup.
Also a steady contributor was Jalynn Bristow who led the team in scoring with 18. Most impressively the 6-3 junior was able to fight through an off-shooting night from outside (1-8) to find her way to 12 points inside the arc plus three at the line. Even against a Mississippi State team that came in as one of the top shot blocking teams in the country, Bristow got to her spots and took it right at the defense when needed.
“The coaches always tell us the best look to score and they texted me before the game and told me exactly where those looks were going to be,” explained Bristow on her approach postgame. “It’s really good to hear that, practice it and then execute it.”
And while Collins and Bristow shifted the momentum, Gemma Núñez quietly showed why she is the stitch that holds it all together. The straw that stirs the drink? The wind beneath the dust? Okay, I’ll stop. She’s good.
Her impact wasn’t scoring—although her four points were all big ones—but more so her combination of poise and disruption. She picked up two quick fouls with 6:54 left in the first quarter and checked out with Tech down 10–8. By the end of the period, Mississippi State led 31–16. Núñez reentered to start the second quarter and suddenly Texas Tech looked like themselves again. A fact not lost on senior captain Bailey Maupin.
“It all starts with Gemma at the point… she puts us in really good spots to be successful.”
From there, she became a constant problem for the Bulldogs: hounding their ball handlers, grabbing timely steals and never fouling again despite her aggressive style.
“Gemma did a fantastic job of not letting the foul trouble get in her head,” said Gerlich. “She still took away what we wanted her to do on defense without fouling.”
Everything Else
- The Lady Raiders’ balanced scoring once again showed their depth: Maupin, Collins, and Bristow all reached double figures, while Jada Malone was one point shy of making it four players in double figures for all six games this season.
- Malone delivered another impactful performance off the bench. Gerlich noted she “wanted the basketball” and brought an interior presence Tech needed: “Jada came from the SEC, so the SEC means a little bit more to her… you could tell the way she practiced that she was very intent about helping us.”
- Denae Fritz didn’t have a big scoring night but still made winning plays throughout defensively. Gerlich highlighted her matchup: “Denae had a matchup all night long against number two… and she disrupted her the whole night and didn’t let her get comfortable.”
- Team chemistry continues to show in big moments and in the boxscore as a hectic, physical, sometimes frantic game didn’t result in too many mistakes from the Lady Raiders. As Maupin emphasized: “We’re playing faster, we’re playing more together… we don’t have many miscues. We have really good chemistry.”
- Rebounding discipline showed up after a shaky start. Mississippi State grabbed two offensive boards on the first possession, but Tech held them to just six total offensive rebounds the game. The Bulldogs came in averaging 14 a game. Gerlich said, “Rebounding was the key… I think it’s a huge testament to our kids just buying into that and fighting on the boards.”
What’s Next: AT New Mexico 11/23 at 2pm
Texas Tech hits the road for the first time to renew what used to be an every year rivalry with New Mexico at “The Pit” in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Sunday. Game time set for 2pm CT, stream will be on the Mountain West Network.
“I just told them in the locker room that we’re going to celebrate tonight because this was a huge win,” said Gerlich on turning the page to their upcoming game. “But we have a quick turnaround and New Mexico to me is a trap game because they are a really, really good basketball team… Playing at The Pit is difficult in itself, but I do think it’s a challenge that we need. They play super fast, so we’re going to have to be really mentally tough and make sure that we can play through some fatigue.”
Photo Gallery: Texas Tech vs. Mississippi State Basketball
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