Texas Tech sports news roundup: Lady Raiders remain perfect, soccer gets a bid, more

Here is your Texas Tech sports news roundup for November 13, 2024.

Four Texas Tech Lady Raiders reached double figures to lead the way to a 75-68 win over New Mexico on Tuesday night in Lubbock. The victory kept head coach Krist Gerlich’s team perfect on the season at 3-0.

“That was a really good win for us,” Gerlich said. “I think that obviously New Mexico played really hard, and they came at us and did a lot of good things, and we had to make some adjustments throughout the game. We had to have different people step up to give us some momentum, and when we weren’t shooting the ball very well, but I thought that we hung in there and really adjusted well. I thought that we got on the glass like we talked about, and for the most part, took care of the basketball.

Jasmine Shavers led the way with 18 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. What’s interesting is that she was scoreless in the first half and had only five points entering the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, senior Jordyn Merritt handed out a game-high seven assists. She managed to do that in just 21 minutes played.

For most of the second half, Tech held a tenuous lead but down the stretch, Shavers would score ten crucial points in the fourth quarter to help fend off the Lobos’ comeback attempt. The Lady Raiders return to the floor when they host Washington State on Saturday at 6 p.m. Central.

The good news for the Texas Tech soccer team is that it has been selected to host an NCAA Tournament game this year marking the eighth time since 2012 that a tournament game will be played in Lubbock. The bad news is that the Red Raiders earned just an 8 seed in the tournament.

That means that their opening-round opponent, LSU, is no slouch. The Tigers enter this game 9-8-3 overall.

What’s more, should Tech prevail, it will likely mean a showdown with No. 1 overall seed Duke on the road in round two. That’s a tough draw for head coach Tom Stone’s team.

“Well we certainly will be challenged from the get-go,” Stone said. “A really difficult First Round opponent in LSU,  and then the winner of our game, potentially gets Duke. It’s that time of year. Nobody gets a free pass and the level of competition you get to face is part of the excitement and motivation to be in this situation.”

Texas Tech and LSU will face off Friday night in Lubbock at 7 p.m. Central. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

On Sunday, Taylor-Demerson earned his first career start with the Arizona Cardinals and he didn’t disappoint. After starting safety Jalen Thompson hurt his ankle late in the week, Arizona needed Taylor-Demerson to step up as the team readied to face the New York Jets.

Learning that he’d start just 90 minutes prior to kickoff, Taylor-Demerson didn’t have long to focus on getting his first start. For the day, he had six tackles, which ranked third on the team. What’s more, he deflected two passes, the most of any Arizona defender in week 10.

“Yeah, I liked it. ‘JT’ (S Jalen Thompson), he just had a little bit of an ankle on Thursday, and with that,(we) just didn’t want him to try to push through it right now. We feel really good about ‘Rabbit’ (Taylor-Demerson). (He) stepped in and played good,” said Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon.

The Cardinals dominated the game to the tune of a 31-6 win. It was the third home game in a row in which the Arizona defense has not allowed a touchdown and on Sunday, Taylor-Demerson played a big role in the win.

Excitement for Texas Tech softball is at an all-time high. Now we know what the 2025 season may have in store for the rebuilt Red Raiders.

Tech has announced its 2025 softball schedule and it opens on February 6 as part of a 50-game slate of games. Tech will host 20 games in Lubbock and play 30 road contests.

Some of the more intriguing games include a showdown with Texas in Austin at the University of Texas tournament which runs from February 13-16, a meeting with Texas A&M at their tournament in College State from February 28 – March 2, a three-game set against Oklahoma State in Lubbock from March 7-9, and three games at Arizona from April 17-19.