The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
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Kansas
Texas downs Kansas to open Big 12 play
01.05.2005 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Heather Schreiber snapped out of a scoring slump with 18 points, and two-time defending Big 12 champion Texas opened conference play with a 66-51 win over Kansas on Wednesday night.
Tiffany Jackson added 21 points for Texas (8-3), which had its 41-game home winning streak snapped with a loss to No. 14 Rutgers on Sunday.
Erica Hallman scored 20 to lead Kansas (7-5, 0-1).
Schreiber, a senior who had been Texas' best all-around player during her career, found her shooting touch in time to get Texas back in the win column. She also had a game-high nine rebounds.
Schreiber had been mired in a scoring slump for most of this season and had a total of just 12 points in the previous two games. She had eight by halftime against Kansas and hit a pair of key 3-pointers in the second half.
Her steal and layup with six minutes left keyed a 10-0 Texas run that helped the Longhorns stretch a three-point lead to 60-47.
The Longhorns have struggled to hold leads this season -- they blew an 18-point second-half advantage against Rutgers -- and had trouble building one against the feisty Jayhawks.
The Longhorns led 34-26 at halftime before Kansas rallied behind three straight 3-pointers from Hallman and Kaylee Brown.
Hallman was falling down in the lane when she put up a shot that rattled around the rim at the shot clock buzzer before falling in to cut Texas' lead to 47-43.
Schreiber hit a 3-pointer on the other end and got a left-handed layup to fall to hold off the Jayhawks before the Longhorns pulled away down the stretch.
POSTGAME NOTES
• Texas is the two-time defending Big 12 regular season champion and the unanimous pick to win the title again in 2004-05 ... Dating back to the start of 2002-03 Big 12 regular season play, the Longhorns are now 30-3 in league regular season contests (15-1 in 2001-02; 14-2 last year; 1-0 this season)
• Texas improves to 6-1 at home on the year... The game with Kansas ended a four-game homecourt streak - the longest of the year for UT ... Texas is now 42-1 at home in its last 43 contests at the Erwin Center, dating back to January of 2002
• Heather Schreiber's 18 points were her second highest single game total of the year - her season high is 22 points (vs. No. 5 Georgia, Nov. 21) .. Schreiber finished with a season-high and game-high nine rebounds
• Sophomore Tiffany Jackson (game-high 21 points) was in double-figure scoring for a team-high 10th time in 11 games to date
• Texas dominated in points in the paint (a 34-16 margin)
• For the seventh time this season, the Longhorns out-rebounded their opponent (tonight by a 31-18 margin, holding KU to eight rebounds in the second half) ... Texas has tied the opponent in rebouding once (Rutgers) and has been out-rebounded three times ... The Longhorns are 6-1 when they out-rebound the opponent; 2-1 when they are out-rebounded; and 0-1 when they tie in rebounding
• Texas got six points from the bench, while KU's bench scored no points in the contest
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt
On the game in general and her team's response after the loss at home to Rutgers Sunday ...
"I was really proud of our team. The effort we got on both ends was what we were looking for. We were a little dry in a couple of spells, but overcame them.
Rebounding was was to be our focus, and we were strong on the boards. I don't think Heather (Schreiber) has hit any bigger 3's this year than she did tonight. She worked hard tonight, and Tiffany (Jackson) was awfully good as well. They both deserve a lot of respect for how long and hard they played tonight.
Tonight, we got pushed by a good team. I have a great deal of respect for Bonnie (Henrickson) and what she will undoubtably do as Kansas made their coaching change after last season. Tonight, we showed that we can finish a game. We had great defensive intensity, and our overall effort was very good. We executed on offense - something we've worked hard on the last few days. There wasn't much I can complain about after the effort we gave tonight. We were workman-like, and that workman-like mentality is what we need every time out. If we play that way, and our bench gives us the type of effort they did tonight, then we'll meet the expectations we've set for ourselves."
On Texas riding the shooting of Jamie Carey so much ...
"With Jamie, we have a player who make plays - actually, we have three of them (Jamie, Heather Schreiber, Tiffany Jackson). If you are talking about the ball being in certain hands in critical situations, yes, Jamie is one of them who needs to be involved. Tiffany has been double and tripled teams and almost impossible to get it into her at times. Jamie has the ability to loosen up the "D". Most of the time, when she lets it go, we are disappointed when it doesn't' go in! On the bench, I hear the players saying all the time 'money' when Jamie shoots. When Tiffany makes a move, they say 'business'. I hear them and know that everyone on the bench thinks we are going to make the play when they have the ball."
On starting the Big 12 season ...
"Wow. If the early season polls, which I don't put much stock into, is any indication, this is going to be a long, tough Big 12 season. It's going to be a hard season for a lot of teams. We've got a really short turnaround before the Baylor game at Waco on Saturday. Welcome to the Big 12! We have to buckle down now every day.
We live in the moment in this conference. A Kansas win is no more significant right now than a Baylor win and a Kansas loss is no more devastating than a Baylor loss. All games will be hard, and some will be harder. I don't' think anyone will change places with us in the schedule right now, do you? We go to Baylor and Tech in our next two games, going against really really good teams.
Again, as I looked at the scores tonight, it's going to be wild and crazy this year. Anything can happen. Baylor and A&M were close for most of the game, Oklahoma at Tech by six or eight, and Rutgers beats LSU in overtime. It's the kind of season that we have right now where each morning we're all going to get up and read the papers anxiously."
On Kansas coming within three points (with eight minutes left) and then Texas closing out the game with a 16-4 run ...
"I've said all along, it's about maintaining focus. In the games we lost and let the lead get away, we relaxed and we thought, hey, we have the lead and everything will be fine. Tonight, what changed when our lead got cut was that our opponent picked up the intensity. We didn't drop ours like before. We both were out there with intensity. Hopefully we'll learn that lesson. We'll need to draw on past experiences.
When they came back to within three points, it wasn't that we were relaxing. Kansas made some pretty incredible shots with us in their faces. I didn't have the same feeling I had Sunday when we totally lost the momentum. I was thinking, we need to really buckle and score because they are shooting the lights out right now."
Senior forward Heather Schreiber ...
On breaking out of her shooting and scoring slump and finishing with 18 points (6-10 from floor) and a season-high nine rebounds...
"Of course, it felt good out there tonight. When I was not shooting well, I concentrated on defense and rebounding. I just didn't want to be the fifth player out there on the court. We knew Kansas would be physical and that we won't be able to walk on the court and just play the game in this league. We are going to have to fight every night, and I have to do my part.
I was really frustrated to struggle, but my teammates and coaches have been telling me to just keep shooting and it will work out. They had confidence in me. Tonight, I started off inside and got some easier shots inside to start and that helped me a bit."
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On the game plan that KU had...
"First, I have tremendous respect for Texas. With Jamie Carey, we didn't want to let her get uncontested looks, but at times she did. We wanted to do a good job defending the high-low, but at times we did not. I believe that down the stretch, it would be the team which made the least mistakes. And that was Texas.
We knew coming in we'd have to defend the numbers offensively. When Texas has won, they are scoring in the 80's; in their losses, they have been in the 50's or 60's. I thought that if we could keep the game in the high 50's, low 60's we would have a chance. For that, I was impressed and pleased with our effort. We are not a team right now as a group which can run up and down the floor and score in the 80's."
On Kansas cutting the lead to three (50-47) with 8:41 to play...
"We made a really good run in the second half. And that was because of the person sitting right here next to me, Erica (Hallman, who scored a team-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers). Erica has a good head, and maintained her poise. She played confident and got separation and hit some tough shots. We've tried to get Erica some more shots, since she has deep range. And that was important for us tonight in that run."
Talking about taking over the Kansas program this year and playing for the first time in the Big 12 ...
"We are excited and proud of the progress we've made with the kids we have. Everyone of our young ladies really wants to get better and be pushed. They love to compete. Before the game, Jody (Conradt) and I were talking about that, the players who love to compete. I'll take that any night. We'll get better because they want to work. It's hardest on these players because of the coaching change, but they have handled the transition very well. We are very excited about our opportunities here."
