Texas Tech coach Krista Gerlich hopes to see team 'respond' in matchup with Oklahoma State
Texas Tech women's basketball coach Krista Gerlich is more than ready to move past Wednesday's blowout loss at No. 15 Oklahoma.
The Big 12 Conference-leading Sooners scored the first 12 points of the game, and their 84-57 victory was never in doubt. It was the Lady Raiders' largest margin of defeat and worst offensive output in conference play.
So it's fair to say no one around the locker room wants to relive the performance.
"We kind of want to just put the OU game behind us," Gerlich said Friday. "It was not good from the start, and we didn't do a lot of things that we are capable of doing. I don't think that our kids were happy at all with the way they played, with the effort that they played with and with the execution. Give OU credit."
Tech's next chance to flush the memory comes at 2 p.m. Saturday, when the team hosts surging Oklahoma State. The Lady Raiders will also honor their seniors, including former OSU Cowgirl Bryn Gerlich.
After walking with her daughter during the pregame ceremony, Krista Gerlich hopes to see Tech come out with a renewed attitude. She said OU "threw that first punch" and got the Lady Raiders into a defeated mindset early.
"We talked about that," Krista Gerlich said, "and I thought our kids responded pretty well whenever we had those discussions. They've responded really well in practice the last couple of days. That type of game is definitely frustrating. But at the same time, you learn from it and put it behind you. There's nothing we can do about it now, and we've got to focus on Oklahoma State."
OSU's current four-game winning streak began with an 86-74 victory over Tech on Feb. 1. The Cowgirls have been off since a 77-56 win over Baylor on Saturday.
OSU (18-7 overall, 8-5 conference) boasts one of the Big 12's most potent offenses and displayed that against the Lady Raiders. The Cowgirls had seven players score at least nine points, led by Terryn Milton's 22. Naomie Alnatas, who scored 10, leads OSU with 13.8 points per game.
Lior Garzon (11.4), Claire Chastain (10.5) and Milton (10.4) follow as double-digit scorers for the Cowgirls.
OSU leads the conference in overall (46.3%) and 3-point (37.1%) shooting percentage.
"They have a lot of weapons on the perimeter," Krista Gerlich said. "They can really shoot the 3-ball. They're very dangerous because any one of those shooters can have a really big night, so you can't just concentrate on one of them."
Tech (16-10, 4-9) will look to get its offense on track after shooting 33.3% against OU. Freshman guard Bailey Maupin was a bright spot, posting 15 points on 6 of 12 attempts. The Gruver product is averaging 13.4 points over the past five games while shooting 57.8%.
"(Maupin) comes out and she's really aggressive," Krista Gerlich said. "I think that she has a scoring mindset and that she really wants to try to help her team on the offensive end. I just love her mentality and how tough she is and that she just does not want anything to hold her out of the game."
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech
Big 12 women's basketball
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: United Supermarkets Arena
Records: Oklahoma State 18-7, 8-5; Texas Tech 16-10, 4-9
Radio: 107.7 FM
Live stream: ESPN+
Coverage: Follow @byStephenGarcia on Twitter for live updates, with postgame analysis at lubbockonline.com.
Big 12 standings
School Conference, Overall
Texas 11-3, 20-7
Oklahoma 11-3, 21-4
Iowa State 8-5, 16-7
Oklahoma State 8-5, 18-7
West Virginia 7-6, 16-8
Baylor 7-6, 16-9
Kansas 6-7, 16-8
Texas Tech 4-9, 16-10
Kansas State 4-9, 15-11
TCU 0-13, 6-18
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Women's basketball preview: Oklahoma State at Texas Tech
