Balanced attack leads Lady Raiders to 11th-straight win in non-conference finale
The 11th win in a row for the Texas Tech women's basketball team was never really in question.
Despite a sluggish shooting day for their two sharpshooters in Rhyle McKinney and Bailey Maupin, the Lady Raiders put together a solid four-quarter effort to roll past Mississippi Valley State 68-45 on Tuesday afternoon in United Supermarkets Arena.
McKinney and Maupin combined to go 0-for-9 from 3-point range and the Lady Raiders (12-1) were just 5-of-27 from deep as a team for the game. Instead of the outside attack, Tech relied on getting inside, scoring 36 in the paint, and creating chaos for the Devilettes.
MVS (2-9) turned it over 23 times, which led to 26 points — 20 coming in the first half — for the Lady Raiders.
"Katie Ferrell was a huge part of that," Texas Tech center Ella Toefaono said. "She was just diving on the floor. She brings us a lot of energy and she make hustle plays, so I think we kind of fed off of her and continued to do so."
Ferrell registered a zero in the scoring column but was instrumental in turning the tide.
After the Devilettes got within a point (12-11) early in the second quarter, Ferrell dove on the floor for a loose ball and hit a streaking Jasmine Shavers in stride for a fastbreak bucket. That was the start of an eventual 19-2 run that created the separation Tech needed to shake off a slow start.
Head coach Krista Gerlich said the effort Ferrell put in Tuesday — which accounted for seven assists, six rebounds and five steals — was noticeable when she first saw Ferrell as a fifth grader. Gerlich is glad that the Lady Raiders get Ferrell for at least one year.
"I hate that they're not going to get to play with her longer because the longer that they can get used to playing with her, the better they'll become," Gerlich said of Ferrell, whom the former recruited and coached while UT-Arlington. "But we'll take every little second that we can get with her.
"She's one of my favorite humans on the face of the earth and it's because of her passion. It's her grit. What a competitor she is and how tough she is. I just love it."
Mixed into that 19-2 run was a trio of 3-pointers from Bryn Gerlich, who was one of four Lady Raiders to finish with a double-digit scoring output.
Shavers led the game with 12 points, Bryn Gerlich added 11 and McKinney and Tofaeono contributed 10 apiece. That kind of balance is something Bryn thinks will make the team tough to guard when Big 12 play begins on Saturday.
"I just think that makes us a really hard scout," Bryn said of the team's scoring balance. "I think the more people that can score, the harder we are to guard. And I think that's going to be really big in conference because they're going to be some really good defenders and they're gonna have to choose someone to put their best defender on, but someone else can step up for not just that person but the whole team."
In addition to the 23 turnovers, the Tech defense held the Devilettes to 31% from the field (15-of-48). Tuesday marked the first time since the 2004-05 season the Lady Raiders have held three straight opponents under the 50-point mark.
With the team's 12th win of the season, Krista Gerlich now has the most victories of her tenure at Texas Tech. Now, things kick up a notch when the Lady Raiders welcome the 15th-ranked Cyclones for a 2 p.m. Saturday showdown.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Balanced attack leads Lady Raiders to 11th-straight win in non-conference finale
