The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 22 Women's Basketball upsets No. 17 Texas A&M, 64-45
01.21.2007 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Senior forward Tiffany Jackson logged her seventh double-double of the year with game-highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds, and the Texas defense held the Aggies to a season-low 31 percent shooting from the floor, as No. 22 Texas upset 17th-ranked Texas A&M, 64-45, in Big 12 women's basketball action Sunday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center.
Jackson (Dallas, Texas) was 9-for-12 both from the field and from the foul line in registering her 27 points. Her 14 rebounds tied her season high.
Texas is now 7-2 in its last nine games and improves to 14-5 overall and to 3-2 in the Big 12. The Aggies (13-4) had their three-game win streak snapped, and are now also 3-2 in the league. Texas moves to 2-3 against Top 25 teams on the year.
Joining Jackson in double-figure scoring for Texas was freshman guard Brittainey Raven who notched 14 points. Raven (Fort Worth, Texas) scored 12 of those points in the second half when she went six-for-seven from the field. Redshirt freshman forward Earnesia Williams (Sapulpa, Okla.) added seven points, while redshirt freshman point guard Carla Cortijo (Bellaire, Texas) finished with game-highs of six assists and four steals.
Leading by 10 at the break (28-18), the Longhorns shot a sizzling 74 percent from the floor in the final half to pull away for the win. That 74 percent shooting effort as a season-best for a half for the Longhorns, who hit 14 of their 19 shots in the final period. UT finished the game shooting 48 percent (24-for-50).
The Aggies, who turned the ball over a season-high 23 times, also were held to their lowest shooting percentage (.314) and fewest field goals made (16) totals on the year in the first of two State Farm Lone Star Showdown contests between the two squads this regular season.
The Longhorns also out-rebounded the Aggies, 41-30, and held a 26-15 edge in points off turnovers and a 32-18 advantage in scoring in the paint.
Texas never trailed in the game and led at the half, 28-18, on the strength of seven steals and an eight-for-eight free throw effort. A staunch Texas defense held the Aggies to 29 percent shooting in the half, as TAMU make just six field goals in 21 attempts. In addition, the Aggies turned the ball over 15 times in the first 20 minutes, with Texas scoring 15 points off the turnovers. UT led in the points off turnovers category, 15-2 and in points in the paint (14-4).
Texas went out to a 22-10 lead 13 minutes into the game, as Jackson netted eight of UT's first 22 points and had six rebounds in that opening stretch. The Aggies turned the ball over 10 times in the first 13 minutes and shot 5-for-15 from the floor. Texas made eight of its first 23 shots, but converted 11 points off those Aggy turnovers.
In the first half, the closest the Aggies could get was seven points, 24-17, following a Danielle Gant layup with 4:17 to go.
In the final half, Texas pushed its lead to 18, 41-23, on a Jackson jumper with 14:07 remaining. Over the next two minutes, A&M sliced into the lead with an 8-2 run, capped by a Danielle Gant layup to close the gap to 12 points, 43-31, with 12:02 left.
Raven then scored the game's next four points on fastbreak layup and a short jumper off a fastbreak, and Jackson added another jumper, to push the Longhorns' lead up to 18, 49-31, with 9:58 to go.
Texas A&M was led by sophomore guard Takia Starks (14 points) and junior forward Patrice Reado (12 points).
Texas A&M began a string of Top 25 opponents for the Longhorns. Counting the game with the Aggies, Texas will face three Top 25 teams in the next four games. The Longhorns next play on Wednesday, Jan. 24, hosting No. 13/12 Baylor in a 7 p.m. Big 12 game in Austin. The game will be broadcast live nationally by CSTV (College Sports TV).
In the Central Texas/Austin area, the game will be carried on the following CSTV cable network affiliates: Time Warner Cable (digital cable Channel 438); DirectTV (Channel 610); and DISH Network (Channel 152).
POSTGAME NOTES
- The Longhorns are now 2-3 against Top 25 opponents to date
- Texas improves to 11-2 at home this year
- The Aggies entered the game ranked No. 3 nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 49.1 ppg before the Longhorns netted 15 points higher than that in today's game
- UT senior forward Tiffany Jackson picked up her team-high seventh double-double of the year and her second in Big 12 play with game-highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds ... the 14 rebounds ties her season high as well ... Jackson's other Big 12 double-double came against Nebraska on Jan. 3 (28 points/11 rebounds)
- Texas is now 13-1 in games when leading at the half (2-1 in Big 12 action)
- with her 14 rebounds, Jackson now has 928 career boards ... She needs 12 more rebounds to move into a tie for the No. 6 spot in Texas career rebounding which is held by Amie Smith (940 boards from 1993-97)
- Texas picks up one-half point in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown series - the third-year rivalry series where points are accumulated in the sports that the Longhorns and Aggies compete in head-to-head during the regular season ... after the Texas women's basketball win today, UT leads the series, 3.5-3 ... each sport is worth one (1) point towards the Rivalry Series championship, and a total of nineteen (19) points can be won... the winner of regular season head-to-head game earns the point for its University; and, in sports where the schools compete more than once a season, a win is worth one-half point ... Texas won the first two years of series play handily (14.5-4.5 in 2004-05 and 14-5 last year)
- By out-rebounding the Aggies by a 41-30 margin, that is the biggest rebound margin of the year for the Longhorns in six games, and breaks a four-game streak where Texas was out-rebounded each game
- The 45 points by Texas A&M tied the Aggies lowest single game point total of the year, tying with the 45 points scored in a loss to Kansas State (Jan. 6) ... the 23 turnovers by Texas A&M were a season high, and the 16 made field goals a season low ... it was Texas A&M's lowest shooting percentage (.314) of the year
- This was the 70th game in the Texas-Texas A&M series, which the Longhorns now lead, 53-21 ... The UT win ended TAMU's two-game win streak in the series (both wins last year), and the Longhorns are now 15-3 against Texas A&M, dating back to the 1998-99 campaign
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Gary Blair
General statement: It is great to see all the media here. You do a good job here supporting women's basketball.
Today was a good ballgame on one team's part, but not on the other's part -- it was Texas all the way today. We take pride in how we do defense, but we weren't doing a great job out there today. But I was impressed with Texas' defense tonight. They have good post rotation and they are going to block every shot -- like Baylor plays. Today, my team lacked toughness and it was all about Texas. They took us out of every offense we wanted to run. Unless we start doing a better job of developing a consistent inside game and making our free throw, we are going to struggle.
(Tiffany) Jackson looked like an All-American today. She played under control and didn't make many turnovers -- what did she have, four? The story is Texas today. It was all Texas.
On the defensive strength that Texas showed: They were doing a great job of reaching in with their hands, mostly slapping the ball away instead of fouling us. We had 23 turnovers against half court, which is pathetic.
I tried a little bit of everything, it just didn't work. Give (Texas junior guard) Erneisha Bailey some credit right now. She is the best shutdown guard in our conference. She is the most improved player in the league. Usually, with an out-of-state player, if they don't play a lot as a freshman or sophomore, like Bailey, then they whine and get out and go to another school. But that's not Bailey's case. She has worked hard and is an impact player as a junior. That kid is a winner and she could play for anybody in the country. I think credit needs to be give to Jody and her staff for developing her after she didn't do anything for two years to really help them.
Junior guard A'Quonesia Franklin
Texas came out strong and intense and didn't give T.K. (Takia Starks) any room to operate. We are usually known as being the aggressive team and playing tough defense, but Texas came out and showed that tonight, not us. We werent as aggressive on the boards as Texas, either.
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt
General statement: Today you saw two teams who really went at it. We were not very competitive last year in either game against Texas A&M last year. Today, we wanted to prove that we could hang and be tough, physically and mentally too.
After the Iowa State game, we asked ourselves, 'What are we? Are we a shooting team, are we a defensive team, an athletic team which can really lock people down and run the floor?' We got back to being what we are today. Defensive-minded and pushing the ball. We have to embrace that. We have to play by creating offense off of our defense. A&M scored 18 points in first half. That is a good defensive effort against anyone, especially that team. That's what we have to bring, night in and night out.
I thought we were very mentally tough out there. You think you have A&M guarded but it's after you think the play is done and you want to relax that the Aggies will score. That's when they get into it and will score. We did a great job of taking away a lot of second and third opportunities today, and Tiffany (Jackson) especially did that in the first half.
It is hard to believe that in mid-January, you are talking about the importance of making a move in the Big 12. The league is tough top to bottom, and I keep looking at our upcoming schedule and see that the computer keeps spitting out this series of opponents for us -- A&M today, Baylor on Wednesday, at Texas Tech Saturday and then Oklahoma next. We need to make a move (in the league), and today's game was important. It might seem early to think that way, but you are thinking, every game is getting you closer or further away from the (NCAA) playoffs. I don't want our team to focus entirely on that and look ahead, but each game is so important in that regard. We must stay on track.
Talking about the individual efforts of Longhorn players: Iowa State game aside, everyone is making contributions right now. I can talk about the two who had not played a lot until this stretch of Big 12 games -- Ashley Lindsey and Aubry Cook. Those two are coming in now, in the post and giving us good minutes. Basically, they weren't playing because it was about practice effort and focus that wasn't there -- and now, they've really picked it up. Their effort and focus has come at a good time. As our bench shortened, se needed them to give us good minutes, which they did today.
I don't think Tiffany (Jackson) has played a more solid all-around game than today -- she was everywhere! She gave us so many possessions, tipping the ball, getting a rebound, a steal -- she was all over the court. Carla (Cortijo) has taken charge of this team and does what we need her to do to win. Both Tiffany and Carla have shown tremendous heart and fight and are playing a lot of minutes at a high level.
The last few games, Carla has been pushing the tempo and with very few players out in front of her. We got in front of the ball today and ran the floor well. That's a huge momentum change for our team.
As far as Brittainey (Raven) -- she's been in a funk, thinking and worrying too much. I told her to only think on defense and let the game come to her offensively without over-thinking. She cleared her head today, particularly on the offensive end, and played the way we expect her to today.
The defensive part of the game is hard, particularly for freshmen. It's all focus and intensity. That's been her biggest adjustment. Offensively, her instincts are good. I said, just go play on the offensive end and only think on defense. And, she made some terrific plays.
Texas freshman guard Brittainey Raven
On defense, I was doing too much jumping around in the first half. Coach told me to play the principles in the second half, and I kept reminding myself of them and did better. About my scoring -- once I get into the flow of the game, I am OK. If I am not (in the flow), I think, what can I do to get started and help my team? I know to get a tipped ball, a rebound, anything to get us going.
Senior forward Tiffany Jackson
I think in the Iowa State game my timing was off and their defense had a lot to do with that. We could not loosen up Iowa State's zone the other night. So, the last few days, I got back into the gym and worked with Coach Davis (Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil) and Coach Travis (Mays) to get my rhythm back. Today, Coach (Conradt) and guards put me in a good position, and I was able to come off some great screens and getting some really good passes from my teammates.
Brittainey Raven and Earnie (Williams) are running the floor so well, and Carla is doing a good job pushing the ball up the court and geting it to them. That was the plan and it worked. And, every night, Erneisha Bailey get the big responsibility of guarding one of the opponents' best players, and she really gets us going on defense.
I think after the loss in Ames, we all came back really disappointed. So, we worked at it hard in practice. Today, the attitude was totally different and we were ready to go. We were fired up and knew we had to get this win at home.
