No. 21 Texas Tech closed out 2025 the same way it handled everyone else this season: with balanced defense and scoring. It wasn’t perfect, but they improved to 15-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play in front of more than 5,000 Red Raider faithful on New Year’s Eve.
The night in many ways belonged to Jalynn Bristow, who scored 21 points for her third 20-point game of the season, but her first since early November. More than the number, it was how she looked doing it. Bristow played with confidence, pace and determination, a welcome sight as conference play heats up. She also crossed the 500 career points mark.
“I rested, spent time with my family and had a second to collect my thoughts on basketball,” Bristow said after the game about how she used the Christmas break to reset. “Just what I need to do better, especially mentally. Follow through like coach and my mom say all the time.”
This reset showed up throughout the night. Bristow scored at all three levels, had a timely three-pointer and looked comfortable letting the game come to her.
Head coach Krista Gerlich made it clear that it wasn’t just the rest that got her there, but she also wanted to give her young star credit for working during the break.
“She went to the gym,” Gerlich said. “She rested, but she also went to the gym with her mom and got shot. Shooters go through that, and it was really good to see her get that award tonight.”
While Bristow threw the punch, Gemma Núñez controlled everything else. From the first possession to the final whistle, Núñez dictated the pace, organized the offense and helped anchor the defensive effort. She finished with 11 points and eight assists (no turnovers) while setting the tone on both ends of the court.
When asked after the game how she stayed so calm while running the offense, Núñez kept it simple.
“I don’t think about it too much,” she said. “We’ve been working a lot on our pace and control. My goal is to give my teammates the right look and put them in position to score. I’m just playing basketball.”
With the win, Texas Tech improved to 15-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 and has now held all 15 opponents this season below their scoring average.
“Oh yeah, sure,” Núñez said. “We talk a lot about defense. We want it to be our identity. We’re very proud of it, but we still want to improve.”
The Lady Raiders also fed off the energy of the building. For New Year’s Eve, 5,226 people were present, loud and engaged. Before the game, fans told me they had come from Odessa, Amarillo and Midland to vacation with the Lady Raiders, a detail that resonated when shared with Bristow, a West Texas native, afterward.
“It means a lot for someone to come and spend their vacation watching Lady Raiders basketball,” she said. “This is something my family would do, so seeing other families choose to do this too is really special.”
Beyond the headliners, Texas Tech benefited from significant complementary efforts at all levels. Snudda Collins provided energy and scored off the bench, Bailey Maupin hit timely shots and Denae [De]Fritz helped lead a defensive effort that made life difficult for UCF’s Leah Harmon most of the night.
“Denae’s defensive presence often goes unnoticed,” Gerlich said after the game. “She guarded their best player for 31 minutes, played 94 feet the entire game and did it efficiently. There are a lot of things she does defensively that don’t show up on the stat sheet.”
The third quarter wasn’t as smooth as this team would like, but they showed their toughness. And if they needed a reminder, it doesn’t go unnoticed by their opponents either.
“They play incredibly physical,” UCF head coach Sytia Messer said. “Their defense is as good as I’ve seen and I’ve been in the Big 12 a long time as a head coach and assistant previously at Baylor. So I would say their defensive end has been much better than I’ve seen in the past, and what a great job the coaching staff has done here at Tech.”
The upcoming New Year’s surprise?
And as the calendar reverses, there may be more than just a new year on the horizon. Gerlich hinted to the crowd after the game that “they’re going into the new year being seven feet tall.”
A roster addition at the upcoming mid-season? Trust, you’ll want to stay tuned for this one. When asked if she wanted to comment on the post-match, Gerlich replied:
“Keep a close eye on social media in the next 24 hours, we have a very nice surprise for the New Year.”
New Year’s Eve victory. New Year’s Eve surprise. We hope Lady Raider Nation doesn’t have to wait long to find out.
And then: against Arizona 1/3 6 p.m. in Lubbock
Texas Tech will return to United Supermarkets Arena on Saturday, hosting Arizona at 6 p.m. in a Big 12 game that caps a doubleheader with the men’s team, which will face Oklahoma State at noon. Tickets are on sale for New Year’s Eve for just $7.
Gerlich cautioned that Arizona is not a team that will ever go away, regardless of the score.
“They never gave up,” Gerlich said. “They’ve been in games that got away from them and still found a way to make things really interesting at the end. We’re going to have to be ready for that and make sure that if we break up, we don’t let them get back into it.”
Photo Gallery: No. 21 Texas Tech vs. UCF Women’s Basketball
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