Texas Tech Women
Gerlich revamps roster, eyes glory days By LANCE LAHNERT Krista Gerlich is a “West Texas girl” through and through. Having played basketball and starred at Sudan (her team won a state championship in 1987) and Spearman, then signing her name to arguably the greatest moment in Texas Tech women’s team sports by starting on the 1993 national championship team, having been the West Texas A&M women’s head basketball coach, Gerlich’s resume oozes West Texas pride. That background is part of the reason why her opening year at the helm of the Lady Raider women’s basketball program in 2020-21 was far from what she expected. Of course, she wanted more wins than the 10-15 overall record and 5-13 Big 12 record. Gerlich also wanted to see the United Supermarkets Arena rockin’ with excitement, like the atmosphere her college playing experience was like. “My first year was nothing like I thought it would be because it’s right in the middle of the pandemic,” she said. “Who thought that? So we are almost treating this as our first year because I’m so excited about fans being able to be in the arena. “I’ve had dreams of filling that place up. We couldn’t do that last year for obvious reasons. Now, I’m like, let’s the put challenge out there. We want to put a team on the floor that people want to come out and support. That they can get behind and behind them in the community as well.” What Gerlich did to start the Lady Raider revival was revamp her roster, keeping three players from last year’s team and hitting the transfer portal heavily. But with a definite plan in mind. “We definitely went after kids that fit our style of play and fit our philosophy and recruiting philosophy we were wanting to build,” said Gerlich, who coached at WT from 2006 to 2013 and had her No. 21 Tech jersey retired and lifted to the rafters. Texas Tech Lady Raiders Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown Bre’Amber Scott, 5-11, G, Jr., Little Rock, Arkansas Ella Tofaeono, 6-5, P, Jr., Sydney, Australia Lexy Hightower, 5-8, G, Sr., Amarillo, Texas Rhyle McKinney, 5-9, G, Fr., Argyle, Texas Bryn Gerlich, 6-0, F, Jr., Colleyville, Texas Saga Ukkonen, 5-9, G, Fr., Helsinki, Finland Vivian Gray, 6-1, G, Sr., Argyle, Texas Lana Wenger, 6-4, F, Fr., Hersberg, Switzerland Khadija Faye, 6-4, P, Fr., Dakar Senegal Taylah Thomas, 6-1, F, Sr., Arlington, Texas Tatum Veitenheimer, 5-8, G, Jr., Windthorst, Texas Chantae Embry, 6-1, F, Fr., Norman, Oklahoma Coach: Krista Gerlich Assoc. Head Coach: JC Carter Asst. Coaches: Ashley Crawford, Eric Ely Chief of Staff: Jared Boyd Director of Operations: Jordan Vessels 2020-2021 record: 10-15, 5-13 64
College
Vivian Gray of Texas Tech attracts defenders in the Lady Raiders’ 99-98 win over Kansas Feb. 20 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock. Gray is on the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award watch list by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. (Texas Tech Athletics Photo by Elise Bressler)
“We definitely have a prototype player, or kids that I prefer in our system. “We have to have some big post players and some really skilled guards. I’d like to be athletic on the perimeter and long,” she said. “But fundamentals top everything in my opinion. We definitely were able to piece things together, and I’m happy the way we put this team together.” The trio returning for Tech are 6-1 senior guard Vivian Gray, 6-0 junior guard Bryn Gerlich and 6-4 freshman center Khadija Faye. Gray, who played at Argyle High, had a monster season last year, starting all 25 games, averaging a team-high 35.7 minutes and leading the way in scoring (19.8 per game) and rebounding (8.2 per game). Gerlich, Krista’s daughter, started 11 games, averaging five points and dishing out a team-high 87 assists. Faye, from Dakar, Senegal, started 19 games and averaged 4.9 rebounds and 5.6 points. She was second in blocks with 20. Coach Gerlich said her returning trio have been vital off the court as well in a leadership role with the massive turnover of players. “Those three we have talked to a lot this spring and summer of just setting the tone,” Coach Gerlich said. “Whenever you are wanting to build a culture, you are setting some standards. As people join you, it’s just the standard. You don’t have a, ‘Oh, what do we do in this situation?’ They already know because of the leadership we have in place. And that’s exactly how it’s happened. “Three players joined us in June, jumped right in and were following suit. We had four more join us in July and we haven’t (Continued on page 66)
2021-2022 Panhandle-Plains Basketball
