{"id":243865,"date":"2026-04-10T17:20:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243865\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T17:20:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:20:35","slug":"texas-tech-extends-krista-gerlich-through-2029-30-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243865\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech Extends Krista Gerlich Through 2029\u201330 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Tech has extended head coach Krista Gerlich\u2019s contract, the school announced Wednesday, keeping her in Lubbock through the 2029\u201330 season. Her previous contract was set to expire following the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n<p>The new four-year deal is valued at $3.1 million and includes an automatic one-year extension if the Lady Raiders reach the NCAA Tournament during any of the first four years. It also features an updated bonus structure tied to conference finish and postseason performance.<\/p>\n<p>The extension follows a significant step forward for the program this past season.<\/p>\n<p>Texas Tech finished 26\u20138 overall and 12\u20136 in Big 12 play, tying for fourth after being picked 13th in the preseason poll. The Lady Raiders reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 and earned their first tournament win since 2005.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur women\u2019s basketball program took considerable strides this past season under Coach Gerlich,\u201d athletic director Kirby Hocutt said. \u201cThis new contract reflects our support in continuing to build on that success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC07425-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4257077\"  \/>Denae Fritz &amp; Krista Gerlich  | Photo by Erica Martinez, Seeing Scarlet<\/p>\n<p>The Lady Raiders spent 12 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 and posted their most overall wins since 2002\u201303 along with their most Big 12 wins since 2004\u201305. Gerlich was named Big 12 Coach of the Year following the season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m extremely grateful to Kirby Hocutt and our administration for the opportunity to extend my commitment to Lady Raider Basketball,\u201d Gerlich said. \u201cWe\u2019ve built a strong foundation, and I\u2019m looking forward to continuing to grow this program with our players, alumni and community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With nine outgoing seniors, Gerlich and her staff are already working to reload for next season to keep the progress going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/sites\/red-raider-sports\/news\/loyal-to-the-soil-jalynn-bristow-returning-for-senior-year\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Big 12 leader in blocks Jalynn Bristow announcing her return last week <\/a>certainly gives them a sturdy veteran piece to build with on top of a talented freshmen class that includes four-star local product Ambrosia Cole. More info on the freshman class <a href=\"https:\/\/texastech.com\/news\/2025\/11\/12\/womens-basketball-lady-raiders-sign-six-on-wednesday\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>They will also have the tallest player in women\u2019s college basketball on the team next year in 7-1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/sites\/red-raider-sports\/news\/texas-tech-makes-historic-signing-with-7-1-c-stephanie-okechukwu\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stephanie Okachewu who signed with the team midseason<\/a> but has yet to make her debut. <\/p>\n<p>Texas Tech is currently accepting season ticket deposits for the 2026\u201327 season through <a href=\"http:\/\/TexasTech.com\/tickets\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TexasTech.com\/tickets<\/a>. Current season ticket holders will receive renewal information later this summer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC07399-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4257075\"  \/>Krista Gerlich  | Photo by Erica Martinez, Seeing Scarlet<\/p>\n<p>Join the conversation with other Red Raiders on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/boards\/forums\/inside-the-double-t.282\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Inside The Double T<\/a>\u00a0forum.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/register\/?returnto=\/boards\/forums\/inside-the-double-t.282\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe today<\/a>\u00a0to get the most in-depth Texas Tech sports and recruiting coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Follow us on X:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/redraidersports?s=21&amp;t=lBfTSdY9NaAjam8V0TzQBg\" rel=\"nofollow\">@RedRaiderSports<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Like and follow us on Instagram\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rrs_rivals?igsh=MWMyNDRsazdnMG5lZA==\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@rrs_rivals<\/a>\u00a0&amp; like us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/redraidersports?mibextid=LQQJ4d\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas Tech has extended head coach Krista Gerlich\u2019s contract, the school announced Wednesday, keeping her in Lubbock through&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169,7787],"class_list":{"0":"post-243865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lubbock","8":"tag-lubbock","9":"tag-lubbock-headlines","10":"tag-lubbock-news","11":"tag-womens-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}