{"id":186444,"date":"2026-03-02T06:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T06:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/186444\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T06:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T06:38:18","slug":"blacklock-fritz-deliver-in-emotional-texas-tech-senior-day-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/186444\/","title":{"rendered":"Blacklock, Fritz Deliver in Emotional Texas Tech Senior Day Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Tech didn\u2019t have its usual firepower Sunday. It had something better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have each other\u2019s backs,\u201d head coach Krista Gerlich said.<\/p>\n

On Senior Day, that was enough. Maybe it always is \u2014 maybe that\u2019s how this group ended up here despite the smallest of outside expectations after being picked to finish 13th.<\/p>\n

Behind timely leadership and a game winning third quarter run, the Lady Raiders ground out a 58-51 win over Arizona State to close the regular season at 25-6 overall and 12-6 in Big 12 play \u2014 the program\u2019s most conference wins since 2005 and a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that should have Texas Tech headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n

Early on, the game felt heavy.<\/p>\n

With families packed into the stands and emotions running high, the Lady Raider seniors struggled to find rhythm as a group. That\u2019s when the lone junior in the rotation stepped forward.<\/p>\n

Jalynn Bristow poured in 12 of Texas Tech\u2019s first 14 points, carrying the offense through the opening stretch while others settled in. It was a steadying burst exactly when Tech needed it \u2014 buying time until the rest of the group could find its footing.<\/p>\n

Gerlich joked afterward that she usually addresses everyone but the seniors before Senior Day, urging them to play their hearts out for the graduating class. With nine seniors and just one junior in the rotation, though, she flipped the message \u2014 telling the seniors to fight for each other.<\/p>\n

It still didn\u2019t surprise her to see Bristow battling just as hard for them, turning in one of her best stretches of the season exactly when the Lady Raiders needed it most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, yeah that kid\u2019s playing for her seniors because she loves those girls very, very much,\u201d said Gerlich of Bristow\u2019s performance. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what you want to do for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the game handed them an unexpected hurdle.<\/p>\n

Snudda Collins went down injured in the second quarter. A senior and second leading scorer at over 15 points per game left straight for the locker room after a hard hit on a screen. Add to it that leading scorer Bailey Maupin was struggling to find space against a physical Arizona State defense and it was looking a bit bleak offensively. <\/p>\n

What now?<\/p>\n

Texas Tech managed to grind its way to halftime down just 27-25, but Collins never returned from the locker room. Someone else would have to step up. With nine seniors the options were there, but the question was who would it be?<\/p>\n

In a season full of moments that feel almost scripted, it felt fitting that it was the Lubbock native, Adlee Blacklock, who came home to answer the call.<\/p>\n

Right beside her was battle-tested transfer Denae Fritz \u2014 the veteran Gerlich had chased for years \u2014 steadying the late huddles when Texas Tech needed it most.<\/p>\n

For Blacklock, the moment carries layers and perhaps foreshadowing? Texas Tech faithful can only hope.<\/p>\n

The Lubbock native originally left home when the program was in turmoil, honoring her commitment to Oregon State while Texas Tech searched for its footing. This being the very time period that opened the door for Gerlich to take the job and begin rebuilding the Lady Raiders. Blacklock experienced the full arc in Corvallis: a double-digit losing streak and bottom-of-the-league finish as a freshman, followed by a stunning rise to a Pac-12 contender and NCAA Tournament Elite Eight run as a sophomore.<\/p>\n

Sound familiar? Texas Tech lost nine in a row and finished near the bottom of the Big 12 in Blacklock\u2019s first year in Lubbock last season. <\/p>\n

Now back in Lubbock at Tech for her senior year, on senior day, in her home town. Blacklock delivered the emotional swing Tech needed to complete their own bounce back season. Pressed into extended minutes at the four after Collins\u2019 exit, she scored six straight points in the final minute of the third quarter \u2014 first burying a three, then calmly sinking three free throws after being fouled as the horn approached.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly like blacked out after I made the first three,\u201d Blacklock said. \u201cI was just thankful I was able to come in and pick up the slack.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a Lubbock native, the crowd is always on her side and certainly was in this moment causing one of the loudest pops of the night. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always just special getting to play in front of the town that I grew up in,\u201d Blacklock said, pausing as she got emotional. \u201cJust to feel the community\u2019s support and hearing them\u2026it never gets old for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerlich was just as emphatic about what Blacklock gave them in the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was able to come in and give us some really good minutes and give us a little lift in the third quarter as well,\u201d Gerlich said before expanding on how Blacklock even ended up back in Lubbock. \u201cAnd honestly, I think there was some divine intervention there. She was in a really good situation there before the Pac-12 broke a part. It opened the door for her to come home and really live out a dream she\u2019s had since she was a little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Blacklock\u2019s shots capped a 16-2 run to end the third and give Texas Tech control for the first time, it was Fritz who started it. The senior co-captain knocked down a huge momentum three that gave the Lady Raiders a lead they would only build from there.<\/p>\n

A long awaited vision playing out. Gerlich had tried to bring the veteran guard to Lubbock multiple times before finally landing her last year and Saturday showed exactly why Gerlich wanted her here. Fritz, as one who has lived these big March moments, became the steady voice in the huddles late.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you could have been in our huddles, she was leading them\u2026 telling us to finish games, telling us to keep composed,\u201d Gerlich said.<\/p>\n

Fritz, humble as always, kept it simple. She just hit the shots y\u2019all, that easy, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, coach has been telling me to shoot the ball when I\u2019m open,\u201d Fritz said. \u201cI just shot it\u2026 and it went in.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Collins sidelined in the final half, Fritz \u2014 whose journey through Iowa State and Baylor included deep postseason experience \u2014 scored all 10 of her points after the break. She sensed the moment because she knows what those runs feel like. Most of all she is eager to experience it with this team in Lubbock, a place she now calls home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very special run and I\u2019m just really hoping that this team gets to experience that,\u201d Fritz said. \u201cYou just got to buy into being 1-0. And I\u2019m just really thankful this fanbase has embraced me the way they have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas Tech carried that momentum through a tense fourth quarter, leaning on a veteran team overall to close it out. Against a team in ASU that was fighting for their postseason lives, that\u2019s not easy \u2013 but Tech managed to get it done. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a complete team effort,\u201d Gerlich said.<\/p>\n

Now the regular season is complete: 25 wins, the program\u2019s best Big 12 mark in two decades, and what should be a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 firmly within reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure 25 and six was on our radar,\u201d Gerlich said briefly allowing herself to think about what this group has accomplished. \u201cIt\u2019s been such a joy and such a great ride with this group\u2026 I\u2019m still going, \u2018We won 25 games?\u2019 That\u2019s crazy to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerlich quickly added the bigger picture remains ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot more basketball to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next stop: Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament. Texas Tech enters as the No. 5 seed after losing the tiebreaker to Oklahoma State for the fourth spot and will open play at 11 a.m. Thursday against the winner of Kansas State and Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: Texas Tech vs. Arizona State<\/p>\n

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