The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Rutgers
Rutgers snaps UT's 41-game home winning streak
01.02.2005 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer is getting the hang of being in the 700-win club.
For the second straight game, Stringer beat a fellow member of the prestigious group that she joined last month. Rutgers used a 13-0 run to end the game and upset No. 4 Texas 51-47, snapping the Longhorns' 41-game home winning streak on Sunday.
The 24th-ranked Scarlet Knights (8-2) overcame an 18-point deficit and held Texas scoreless in the final 8 1/2 minutes. Freshman Matee Ajavon scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the second half for Rutgers, which notched Stringer's 703rd career win.
Stringer, Texas' Jody Conradt, former LSU coach Sue Gunter and Tennessee's Pat Summitt are the only coaches in women's college basketball to amass 700 or more career wins.
On Wednesday, Rutgers knocked off No. 8 Tennessee 65-61.
"It feels good anytime you beat Texas and Tennessee,'' Stringer said. "Wins over those great coaches are very special.''
Texas (7-3) led 40-22 early in the second half before Rutgers rallied. Ajavon's three jumpers helped cut Texas' lead to 45-38 with 9:20 left.
Heather Schreiber countered with a layup to give the Longhorns a 47-38 advantage with 8:30 remaining, but it would be their last points of the game.
Ajavon's two baskets gave Rutgers a 49-47 lead, and Essence Carsons' jumper with 12 seconds left helped seal the win.
"We had a total offensive collapse in the second half,'' Conradt said. "Everything was going our way, but it just fell apart.''
Jamie Carey had 13 points and Tiffany Jackson had 12 first-half points for Texas, which missed its final 12 shots of the game. The Longhorns last lost a home game in January, 2002, against Kansas State.
Rutgers hit just six of its first 26 shots in the first half. A 12-4 run, led by Jackson's seven points, helped the Longhorns to a 30-16 lead four minutes before halftime. They led 36-20 at the break.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The loss snapped Texas' nation-leading 41-game homecourt win streak, which had been the longest in the nation for any NCAA Division I men's or women's program ... Texas is now 5-1 at home this season ... The last loss prior to today's setback took place on Jan. 30, 2000, when Big 12 opponent and No. 9 ranked Kansas State posted an 80-76 double overtime win. UT's 41-game win streak is the second longest in Texas history... The longest home-court win streak is 44 games, set from Jan. 2, 1984 through Dec. 14, 1987
- UT's 11 second half points were the least amount of points EVER for the Longhorns in program history .. The former all-time low in points in a half was 15, which Texas scored in the second half of its 1994 loss to No. 1 Tennessee (90-64) on Jan. 25, 2004
- Texas had it's longest scoring drought of the season when it did not score in the final 8:37 ... UT's last score was at 8:37 on a Heather Schreiber driving layup ... After that, the Longhorns went 0-11 from the floor, did not attempt a free throw, and turned the ball over three times
- UT sophomore F Tiffany Jackson (12 points) was in double-figure scoring for a team-high ninth time in 10 games, although she did not score in the final half ... Senior G Jamie Carey was in double-digit scoring for the seventh time in 10 games
- Texas and Rutgers tied in rebounding (33-33), and this marked the first time this year that the Longhorns tied an opponent in rebounding ... UT has out-rebounded six opponents and been out-rebounded three times.
- This was the third of four consecutive home games for the Longhorns - the squad's longest homestand of the season.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt
On Texas' breakdown in the second half, scoring just 11 points (an all-time program low for points scored in a half) and relinquishing a 36-20 halftime lead ...
"We really couldn't do anything in the second half. Credit a very good Rutgers team which out-worked us and out-hustled us throughout the second half - as disappointing as that is. This is a hard lesson learned. The biggest differences from the first to second halves were that we shot 55 percent in the first, and 22 percent in the second. We couldn't get the ball inside the paint. It was jammed up in there, and very very physical. We didn't work hard enough inside. We had a total breakdown on the offensive end. In the second half, Rutgers, as you would suspect, started to shoot better from the perimeter than they had to start the game. Their guard play is outstanding, and they dominated on the perimeter as the game went on.
We have yet to establish, in our three losses, that we can maintain a lead. Today, we turned the ball over, took some wild shots. Do we have a tendency to relax out there once we have a lead? I don't know, but we shouldn't have to keep learning same lessons over and over. All losses hard to live with. We certainly know that we've got to get a lot tougher mentally - did we lose the game physically or mentally? I think it's got to be on the mental side."
Talking about the Texas offensive woes in the second half...
"It's not like our guards had a lot of time to get ball inside. It was very physical inside, with no room to operate. They certainly tried to bump Tiffany (Jackson) off her cuts and force her up high and not let her get into the low block, but I wanted us to keep working. They out-worked us. Whoever works harder has an advantage. It would have helped if we had hit some perimeter shots. It is hard to play and succeed if you cannot get things working inside. It is important to get offensive rebounds and score on putbacks, which is another thing we did not do in the second half. We were a lot more aggressive on going to the boards in the first half."
In practice, we have to know that it is going to be tough offensively at times and that that is something we cannot control. If shots are not falling, you must get offensive boards. You cannot play one-shot basketball like we just did. It's disappointing because we had things going our way early. Unfortunately, that's happened to us before - we lose an early lead. We need to take what got us that early lead and continue it into the later part of the game...
About beginning the Big 12 season on Wednesday against Kansas, and following that with two games against ranked Big 12 teams (Baylor and Texas Tech)....
"It is all serious business from this point on. We just have to get with it."
Texas senior F Heather Schreiber
"As a whole, we weren't as good as we needed to be. When a team gains momentum, like Rutgers did early in the second half, we didn't have anyone making the plays for us to counter that momentum. I was surprised because our "D" was really good in the first half. Yes, Rutgers is quicker than us, and it's tough for us to guard them, but I thought we did a great job of that in the first half. In the second half, they started to make more of their outside shots, and we were letting them get into their ranges where they like to take shots."
Texas senior G Jamie Carey
"They put a lot of pressure on us, especially in the second half. When a team does that to you, you have less time to set up your plays, and we just got out of sync again and again. I am very disappointed. This is a game of 40 minutes. I almost wished we didn't have halftime today. We didn't come out of it (halftime) with any intensity."
Rutgers Head Coach C.Vivian Stringer
On knocking off the No. 4 Longhorns and ending their 41-game home-court win streak...
"First of all, we have so much respect for Texas. We wondered before the game if we had answers for them. They have so many great players and they are so successful at home. The team has so much fire in (Jamie) Carey and (Tiffany) Jackson and (Heather) Schreiber. But, we wanted to be sharp. To be honest, I didn't know anything about the streak. Yes, I am ecstatic - this is one of the top five wins for me, period. One, because of the respect I have for Jody Conradt and this program. And second, because the win happened here in Texas.
I'm so happy for our seniors, because they kept screaming, '9-20' from the bench. That was our record their first year here when we had lots of injuries and some transfers. Those that have stuck it out are enjoying the fruits of their labor. When I looked at our bench, I thought, when the game is on the line, give the ball to the seniors. They came out with the will to get a rebound, the determination to play "D", do whatever we needed them to do.
There also is ice water in the veins of our freshmen now because there is a settling feeling on this team, due to the seniors. Before, we didn't have depth. Now we do. That made a difference today."
On keeping Tiffany Jackson scoreless in the second half ...
"Looking at film, we had no answers for Jackson. There is no question that she is the most activce, productivce center that we are going to face. We knew we had to let the game get into the hands of our guards, not their guards, and take the ball away from their post players. In the second half, it looked like we had an answer for Jackson, but we really didn't. We made her dance in the post, and use a lot of energy - and never let her hold her position. When she would catch the ball, we would double-down on her. We knew she'd get frustrated and try to do a lot more on her own.
In the first half, we were very disappointed in our guards. They were tentative and backed off of Texas. We only had 11 rebounds in the first half. It looked like we were afraid to mix it up. We challenged the team at halftime to get after it, get the boards, stop the wings and pick up the guards. We made it be a more half-court game in the second half.
What she said at halftime with her team trailing Texas, 36-20 ...
"When I spoke to the team at halftime, I told them that no matter what the score, to peservere. If we take care of the defensive side of the floor, nothing would be insurmountable. We learned from Tennessee - when we had about a 23-point lead at one point - that when we came down the court and quickly took shots, that gave them (Tennessee) too many possessions and too many chances to get into the game. Today, we did a better job of managing the game and time clock in the second half."
About the rough schedule of facing three top 10 teams consecutively - Tennessee, Texas and No. 1 LSU (coming up)...
"The question is - can we keep the momentum going? We need to, because the next game is against No. 1 LSU! The stretch of games we have - back to back to back games of this magnitude - is a first for us. If it happens again, I'll have to fire our sassistnat coach in charge of scheduling! Seriously, we want to have the opportunity to go up against special coaches from quality programs. Any win against Tennessee and Texas is special. We - Pat, Jody and myself - have a deep affection for one another."
On what it meant to her in the pre-game to have Jody Conradt present her with a Texas-themed plaque congratulating her on reaching the 700-win club ...
"That was quite the surprise! Before the game when she handed that to me, she pulled me aside and she said, 'I know how hard it is, how much work it takes, to have this much success.' You know what? She would know. She knows how hard it is. They've been there - she and Pat and, of course, Sue Gunter (former LSU head coach, now retired). If there is a team and coach to which I wish the greatest of success, it is Jody and Texas - she's been a classy coach in our profession. That was a special moment for me in the pre-game."
Rutgers senior G Cappie Pondexter
Commenting on the big celebration on the court post-game ...
"For us, we just needed to have shouts of joy. These type of wins (over Tennessee last week and Texas) are a long time coming. We haven't had a full team ready to sub in and out, until now. It's fulfilling to win this type of game. It feels really good. As a group, we believed we could win the game. We are just excited to get our show on the road."
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