If there’s a spike in Texas Tech women’s basketball attendance, coach Krista Gerlich knows at least one person to thank.
Lubbock native Adlee Blacklock made her Lady Raiders debut in rousing fashion Monday, scoring a game-high 14 points in a 78-48 win over Incarnate Word. The junior guard couldn’t hide her excitement during the contest, letting out a roar after the last of her four 3-pointers in the first half.
“I grew up going to Lady Raider games,” Blacklock said, “so just being able to play in front of my family, just noticing people in the crowd that I’ve grown up with, was super cool. I’m glad I shot the ball well enough to put on a show, I guess.”
Exactly how many people came to cheer on Blacklock? She wasn’t sure, but Gerlich chimed in.
“I mean, everybody from Lubbock knows Adlee,” Gerlich said. “So whatever the attendance was, that’s how many people were here for her.”
All of Blacklock’s shots from the field were from 3-point range. She finished 4 of 10, a return to form after a self-described rough season. As a freshman, Blacklock led the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting at 46.5%. She said the Tech coaching staff helped her regain confidence in her shot.
“Last year I didn’t shoot the ball great,” Blacklock said. “Just coming into this program, I was kind of at a low confidence point, just from my own doing. Krista and the staff has really done a good job of speaking confidence into me. Going into this game, I knew that she trusted me to knock down shots. I knew my team trusted me to knock down shots.”
It was a night of debuts for Tech. Arkansas-Pine Bluff transfer Maya Peat was out injured, but the other five newcomers were part of all 14 active players seeing the floor. That included Denae Fritz, the Baylor transfer brought in to fill the void at point guard. She tallied four points and a team-high four assists.
“We’re kind of playing her at a different position, as far as what she’s used to playing,” Gerlich said. “But I thought she was really calm. I thought she was very confident in what she’s doing. … We’ve got to get her more involved on the offensive side of it, as far as shooting the ball. Because she can really score it, and I don’t want to take away her scoring opportunities because she’s playing the point for us.”
Ten Lady Raiders played at least 12 minutes, and Gerlich said non-conference will be spent finding the right rotation. Two players who started Tech’s final game last season, Kilah Freelon and Jordyn Merritt, came off the bench. Merritt, who made 20 starts in 2023-24, said the competition among the roster has been a plus.
“I think that it has definitely challenged us within practices,” Merritt said. “Every possession matters, every turnover matters, every shot that you make or you don’t make. All that stuff factors into the opportunities that you get in a game. It just allows us to be very competitive and not take a play off. I feel like with that we’re able to push ourselves, sometimes to be even more aggressive, more stronger, more tougher than even our competition.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock’s Adlee Blacklock excites in Texas Tech women’s basketball debut
