On the evening before their final home game, the five Texas Tech seniors spoke about what kind legacy they wanted to leave behind.

Each reflected on some of the highs and lows of the past few years, and how it’s brought them to this point.

When Tech hosts Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Monday in its final regular-season game, the five seniors know it isn’t the end, though.

“We still have more to go. We can’t settle,” said senior Casey Morris.

With a 21-8 record (11-6 in Big 12 Conference play), the Lady Raiders are almost assured a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in these five seniors’ career.

The five seniors who will be honored after today’s game are Morris, Monique Smalls, Chynna Brown, Christine Hyde and Mary Bokenkamp.

When the group members were sophomores, the Lady Raiders went to the big dance.

Last year, the team took a step back and missed out on the tournament.

Although the 2012-13 season didn’t start until November on the record books, the season really started at the end of last year.

Led by the five seniors, Tech put in the extra work in the offseason determined not to have another disappointing season.

They wanted to do better for themselves, their teammates and their coaches. But they also wanted to do it for Tech.

“This is going to be our last year and we need to come out with a bang,” recalled Smalls, wanting to finish strong for the fans who have stuck with them for nearly four years. “We need to show them and make them realize who Texas Tech is and go far with it.”

Although the tradition-rich program has plenty of banners denoting conference championships hanging in United Spirit Arena — to go with the 1993 national championship — Tech hasn’t been able to remain in the upper echelon of women’s college basketball.

This class seems to have taken it upon itself to restart that legacy, and they’ve done it without any superstars or record-breakers

“You might not always have your name in the record book or anything like that,” Bokenkamp said, “but you can always have your name in the group, the 2012-2013 team turned it around and started a string of NCAA Tournaments, or whatever it might be.”

Hyde recalled the 1993 championship team’s return, and she’s happy she will be able to reflect on a positive end to her career at Tech.

Hyde pointed to Tech’s earlier game against Oklahoma as a defining moment for this year’s team, one that captured the core of what this group is about.

Although the Lady Raiders ended up losing by 10, they fought back from double-digit deficits twice.

After the game, Hyde saw it in her teammate’s faces that this was a group that wasn’t going to accept losing or fold when down by a dozen points.

“A couple of days later when I looked at the film, I was like, ‘You know what, we have heart. We have a lot o people who don’t like to lose.’”

Chynna Brown, Tech’s leading scorer this season, said the Lady Raiders have grown from freshmen who were sometimes unwilling to listen and learn, to a team able to take criticism and rectify problems.

“I’m ready to play tomorrow and mainly just have fun and leave something on the court and leave a legacy for the fans,” Brown said.

Bokenkamp said the team went into offseason workouts with a better mentality and listened to the coaches better.

She said the Lady Raiders have improved their maturity and mental awareness, but they’ve also put that into effect during the games.

While Tech is experiencing its best season since 2004-2005, Bokenkamp said success is measured in more than just wins.

“Being a program that Texas Tech can be proud of is the most important thing,” she said, “and I think we’ve been able to do that this year.”

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