It’s a new role for Snudda Collins, but she doesn’t mind.
The senior guard has been the first option off the bench for the Texas Tech women’s basketball team, and the early returns show it’s a match made in heaven. Through three contests, Collins is tied for the team lead at 17 points per game after a season-high 20 in Sunday’s win over Texas State.
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The Brookhaven, Mississippi, native made 73 starts over four seasons at Ole Miss, but the adjustment hasn’t fazed her.
“It don’t make a difference to me,” Collins said Sunday. “Because whether I start or come off the bench, it’s gonna be the same energy either way it goes. So, it doesn’t really matter.”
Texas Tech’s Snudda Collins shoots against Texas State in a non-conference women’s basketball game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, at United Supermarkets Arena.
Lady Raiders coach Krista Gerlich didn’t always have this vision for Collins. Collins took a year off from basketball before signing with Tech in June as the team prepared for the World University Games. She didn’t travel with the Lady Raiders, in part to continue getting ready for her first season back.
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As Tech players represented Team USA at the Games, a chemistry formed with that group. Gerlich didn’t want to disrupt that, so she decided to try Collins as the sixth player.
“When we got back and we started preparing for this season, I think it was just trying to find the right fit for her, even within our lineup,” Gerlich said. “Is she a 4 (position), is she a 3? Is she a shooter? … Obviously you can tell she’s everything.”
In fact, Gerlich thinks so highly of the 6-foot-1 Collins that she feels she could play any position.
“I think it just gives us flexibility and versatility to be able to pull somebody like that off the bench,” Gerlich said, “and insert them and get us an instant lift. She’s such a dynamic player. The fact that she’s so unselfish and that that’s not really a high priority for her, as to whether she starts or comes off the bench, I think that just even contributes even more to the chemistry of our team.”
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Collins averaged a career-best 9.6 points her final season at Ole Miss in 2023-24. She’s scored at least 15 in every game at Tech, and her high against Texas State came in 17 minutes of action. She’s also second on the team in rebounds (4.7) and has four blocks.
Collins is shooting 51.4%, including 7 of 13 (53.8%) from 3-point range.
It’s the type of scoring punch off the bench the Lady Raiders have lacked in recent years.
“I think this roster is really talented,” Gerlich said. “The fact that when you sub we maybe get better, it certainly helps us, or at least we don’t lose our flow. But I think instant offense certainly can’t hurt any time.”
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The strength of competition is ramping up for Tech as it continues its season-opening home stand. The Lady Raiders host SMU on Thursday to begin a stretch of power-conference opponents that includes SEC foes Arkansas and Mississippi State.
It will be some of Tech’s toughest non-conference opposition in the Gerlich era. The coach hopes the team can capitalize with wins that could boost its résumé come NCAA Tournament selection time. The Lady Raiders last made the big dance in 2013.
“(This) is why we schedule them, right?” Gerlich said. “We’re trying to get our non-conference so that we can be in a position to, obviously battle in the Big 12 and to be ready for that, be prepared, but also to be able to look back in March and look at our resume and see what we did on our home court against Power 4 competition. I think it’s huge for us. … I’m really excited about the opportunity and the challenge that’s ahead.”
Texas Tech’s Snudda Collins drives the ball against Texas State in a non-conference women’s basketball game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, at United Supermarkets Arena.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Snudda Collins a key sixth player for Texas Tech women’s basketball
