The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Trinity (TX)
Women's Basketball posts 78-29 exhibition win over Trinity University
11.07.2006 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Sparked by a 30-6 run in the first 12 minutes of the game and a 41-6 lead with less than three minutes left in the first half, the University of Texas women's basketball team cruised to a 78-29 victory over Trinity University in exhibition play on Thursday at the Frank Erwin Center.
Texas was led by three players in double figure scoring, with senior forward Tiffany Jackson collecting a game-high 16 points and junior guard Erneisha Bailey and freshman guard Brittainey Raven each scoring 15. Jackson (Dallas, Texas) also had seven rebounds and a game-high five steals, while Bailey had a game-high nine rebounds and three steals.
The exhibition was the second and final one of the year for the Longhorns, who had defeated the Houston Jaguars 72-31 on Nov. 2 in Austin. Trinity won the NCAA Division III national championship in 2003. The squad is coached by second-year head coach Amie (Smith) Bradley, a former All-Southwest and All-Big 12 standout who played for Jody Conradt's Longhorns from 1993-97.
The Longhorns made 11 of their first 21 shots while the Tigers were able to make only one of their first 11 field goals in the opening 12 minutes of action, as Trinity made 18 turnovers in that span. Up 12-6, the Longhorns went on a 29-0 spurt, to lead 41-6 on a transition fast break jumper from Earnie Williams with 2:43 left in the half. During the 29-0 run, the Longhorns were paced by eight points from Jackson (Dallas, Texas) and seven points apiece from Raven (Fort Worth, Texas) and Bailey (Kansas City, Mo.), while Cortijo added five points and three steals over this 13:53 span that Trinity was held scoreless.
After a pair of Meghan Scholbe free throws at the 16:22 mark which pulled Trinity to within six points (12-6), the Tigers were scoreless until Sheneeka McNair netted two free throws with 2:29 to go in the half to make the score 41-8.
Jackson (12 points) and Bailey (11 points, six rebounds) led Texas to a 49-13 lead at intermission. Jackson also had three rebounds and three steals in 16 minutes of play. The Longhorns shot 49 percent in the first 20 minutes, making 17 of 35 field goals while going 14-20 from the free throw line. The Tigers were limited to 13.6 percent shooting from the floor (3-for-22) and were six-for-10 in foul shooting. The first-half was a turnover-marred 20 minutes, with UT committing 17 turnovers and Trinity 27. Texas had 13 steals in the first half, with eight different players accounting for at least one steal.
In the second half, the Longhorns netted 29 points to Trinity's 16 for the final score.
Texas led in numerous categories, including rebounding edge (49-26), points in the paint (32-10), points off turnovers (40-6) and fast-break points (12-2).
Trinity was paced by nine point from Kate Dawson and six from Carlee Culver. The Tigers shot 21 percent for the game, making nine of 43 field goals attempted. Texas finished the game shooting 44.1 percent (26-for-59) and went 25-for-32 from the foul line. The Longhorns finished with 21 steals.
Texas will kick off the regular season by hosting a three-day, four-team round-robin tournament - the Basketball Travelers Classic - this upcoming weekend. The BTI Classic takes place at the Erwin Center from Sunday-Tuesday (Nov. 12-14). Visiting teams include Louisiana-Lafayette, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Texas State. Texas opens play against Maryland-Eastern Shore (Sunday at 6:30 pm CT), then faces Louisiana-Lafayette on Monday in a FOX Sports Net Southwest TV (FSN SW) live telecast at 7:30 p.m. before facing Texas State on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.).
Tickets (season, single game, group and mini-packs) for all Texas basketball games are available for purchase in the following ways: via the internet at TexasBoxOffice.com; via phone at (800) 982-BEVO or (512) 471-3333; at the Erwin Center Box Office during business hours and one hour prior to game-day tip-offs; and the UT Athletics Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall ( Monday - Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. CT ).
POSTGAME NOTES
- The full schedule of the upcoming Basketball Travelers Classic tournament is as follows:
Sunday, Nov. 12 - Texas State vs. La.-Lafayette, 4 p.m.; Maryland-Eastern Shore vs. TEXAS, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 13 - Texas State vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore, 5 p.m.; Louisiana-Lafayette vs. TEXAS, 7:30 p.m. (FSN SW TV)
Tuesday, Nov. 14 - Maryland-Eastern Shore vs. La.-Lafayette, 5 p.m.; Texas State vs. TEXAS, 7:30 p.m.
- Trinity is under the direction of second-year head coach and former Longhorn 5-10 standout Amie (Smith) Bradley, an All-Southwest Conference and All-Big 12 performer. Smith Bradley scored 1,228 points in her Longhorn career and ranks No. 4 in all-time UT rebounding (940 boards).
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt
Her general statement: "Defensively, we were strong for the second game in a row. I was impressed with our defensive effort and our rebounding was a little bit better than last time out. Offensively, we were not very good. We tried to keep the tempo up but we didn't always make good decisions in transition, and I understand that we will have turnovers in the transition game at first. However, we did not have enough assists. Our shot selection wasn't that good, and we all got too anxious.
But, it was good to get everyone in the game. We are going to get (sophomore forward) Aubry Cook back into practice, and Mari (Mergerson) is coming along as well. Getting everyone healthy will really help with our depth.
I appreciate Amie (Smith) Bradley bringing her team here - her team played hard, from beginning to end. We knew they would. They reflect their coach. Amie was one of the hardest workers I've ever had here at Texas.
In terms of individual players, I thought Erneisha Bailey was very good tonight. Earnie was really putting pressure on the ball all night long, and is doing an excellent job on defense for us right now. If we can get other people like her to be defensive stoppers, we'll be a good defensive team. She creates offense with her defense, and as I've said, Earnie is the most improved player on our squad. She shot pretty well tonight, much better than the first game, and she will get lots of minutes if she keeps playing like this as a result.
Brittainey (Raven) played some point tonight. She needs to do that for us. We moved Niqky (Hughes) around from the three to the four, and she needs more work there. We've done the same with Gabriell Mattox, moving her around. We are looking to see where they are going to help us the most and they will continue to get better with more practice reps."
Looking ahead to the season opener on Nov. 12 (vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore), the first of three games in three days in the Basketball Traveler's Classic: "Everyone is going to have to contribute, as we play three games in a row to start off. We get Aubry Cook back, another body as I mentioned, so that will be important as we start off. I feel so much more optimistic as we start the year than I did last year at this time after our exhibitions. Our work ethic is so much better in practice situations than it was at any time last year. If there was one thing we could be happy about right now - and there are more than one, but this is an important one - it would be that we have figured out how to work hard."
Junior Guard Erneisha Bailey
"I am having fun playing defense, and like Coach said, the rest of the team draws from that energy. If we can created our own excitement through defense, things get easier on the offensive end. I am probably going to be a defensive stopper for us. It all starts with defense and I know to be on the court I also have to make those bunnies and not go 0-6 like I did in the first game. In order to get on the floor, if playing defensive stopper is what I have to do, then I will do it, absolutely."
Redshirt Freshman Guard Carla Cortijo
" I was really excited out there tonight. After not playing for two years, I was really excited to get back out there the last two games. I did not play almost for two years - I did not play my senior year and just played a few games last year, so it is tough to get back in condition. When we had that stretch of fast breaks and steals, I was really really tired. Right now, I am trying to get back in shape and get my game back."
