She became the head coach of the Lady Raiders in 1982. For most of the 1980s, Sharp's Lady Raiders were the second-best team in the
Southwest Conference, behind the
Texas Longhorns under
Jody Conradt. However, they dominated the last years of the SWC's existence, winning the last five regular season titles in a row (four outright, one shared) and three conference tournaments. Her best team was the 1992–93 unit, led by
Sheryl Swoopes, which won the first NCAA championship by a Texas Tech team in any sport. After Texas Tech became a charter member of the
Big 12 Conference in 1996, Sharp added three more regular season titles and two tournament titles. Sharp's 24-year career won–lost records included a 258–89 record (.744 winning percentage) in conference play (Southwest Conference and Big 12 Conference combined) and a 572–189 record (.752 winning percentage) overall with no losing seasons. In 2003, Sharp was inducted into the
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. The Marsha Sharp Center for Student-Athletes on the campus of Texas Tech and the
Marsha Sharp Freeway in
Lubbock are both named after Sharp. Following Sharp's retirement from coaching, she was named Associate Athletic Director for Special Projects within the Texas Tech Athletic Department. ==Head coaching record==