Krista Gerlich Position: Head Coach Experience: Third Season

Now in her third season as head coach of the Lady Buffs, Krista Gerlich has continued West Texas A&M's tradition of excellence in women's basketball. Having compiled a two-year won-lost mark of 54-10, equally as impressive are the honors her teams have earned in the classroom.

2007-08 saw the Gerlich-coached Lady Buffs record a 26-5 season record, capture a third-consecutiveLSC South Division title, earn the LSC Tournament Championship and make a fourth-consecutive NCAA South Central Regional appearance. Individually, the Lady Buffs were well-represented in post-season honors, with Emily Brister earning Daktronics all-Region Player of the Year, as well as Daktronics all-America, LSC South Division Player of the Year, LSC Tournament MVP, LSC Female Athlete of the Year as well as earning the inaugural Fred Jacoby Academic Athlete of the Year award. Courtney Lee was selected as the LSC South Division Defensive Player of the Year.

Dedicated to the classroom as well as the basketball court, Gerlich's 2007-08 team was recognized by the WBCA with Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll recognition, ranking fifth among all Division II programs with a 3.55 grade point average.

Gerlich took over the WT program just prior to the start of the 2006-2007 season and immediately made an impact. In just her first season as a head coach at the collegiate level, she led the Lady Buffs to an overall record of 28-5 and a perfect 14-0 record in LSC league play and was named Coach of the Year in the LSC South Division.

In addition to the team's accomplishments, the Lady Buffs earned numerous individual awards: six LSC South Awards - including the South Division Player of the Year - six LSC academic awards, the All-Region Player of the Year award, the All-LSC Female Athlete of the Year award, an Honorable Mention All-America (by the WBCA) honoree, and one first team All-America honoree by Daktronics, as voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The Lady Buffs were recognized for their efforts in the classroom, as well. Two garnered Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar accolades and the team was ranked 18th nationally in the 2006-2007 WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for Division II with a collective GPA of 3.355.

Prior to joining West Texas A&M, Gerlich spent three seasons with another highly successful West Texas women's basketball program, serving as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Marsha Sharp at Texas Tech. During her time in Lubbock, Gerlich helped guide the Lady Raiders to two NCAA tournament appearances, including a 24-8 overall record, a 12-4 Big 12 mark and a spot in the Sweet 16 during the 2004-2005 campaign.

While on the Tech bench, Gerlich was heavily involved in almost every aspect of the program as she instructed preseason individual workouts, coached the perimeter players, reviewed film and handled game day preparations for the Lady Raiders. Throughout the school year she also assisted in the academic progress of the Lady Raider student-athletes.

Before returning to coaching with Texas Tech during the 2003-2004 season, Gerlich took some time off to start a family; she spent the 2002-2003 year teaching math at Hereford High School, where her husband, Bryan, was the athletic director and head football coach.

After graduating from Texas Tech in 1993 with a degree in exercise and sports science, Gerlich got her first coaching job at Lockney High School as the head girls' basketball coach. From 1994-1997, she was the head girls' coach at Taft High School in San Antonio, Texas. Gerlich entered the college ranks as an assistant at the University of Texas at San Antonio from 1997-1999, where she served as the number one assistant and recruiting coordinator. Gerlich followed her position at UTSA by accepting the head coaching job at San Antonio Reagan High School from 1999-2000. In the inaugural season at Reagan, the team posted a 20-5 mark. Before her stint at Hereford, Gerlich was a math teacher at Tahoka High School from 2000-2002 where husband was the athletic director and head football coach.

Gerlich received her master's degree in educational administration in 1997 from Texas A&M-Kingsville. During a stellar playing career at Texas Tech, Gerlich played shooting guard from 1989-1993 and helped guide the squad to the 1993 National Championship while picking up All-Southwest Conference honors three times. She also was named to the 1993 SWC All-Tournament team, the 1993 West Regional All-Tournament team and the 1993 Final Four All-Tournament team. Gerlich was selected to the All-Time SWC team, while being named one of the Panhandle's Top 100 Athletes of the Century. During her senior campaign, she became Tech's all-time assist leader by finishing with 553 assists, which now ranks third all-time in program history. In 1993, she was named the NCAA Texas Woman of the Year. On Dec. 5, 1993, Gerlich's number 21 was retired and now hangs in the rafters at the United Spirit Arena, making her one of just three Lady Raiders to have her number retired.

The Spearman, Texas, native was a three time all-state selection in basketball while attending Sudan (Texas) High and Spearman High School. She was a member of the 1987 state championship basketball team at Sudan HS, where her father, Jim Kirkland, was her high school basketball coach. In 1988, she helped Spearman HS claim the cross country state championship and was a four time all-state selection in cross country. She placed third at the 1989 state track meet in the 1600 meters.

Gerlich and her husband, Bryan, who is also a Texas Tech graduate and a former linebacker on the Red Raider football team (1987-1992), have a daughter, Bryn, and a son, Brayden.