The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
2-0
Lamar
1-2
No. 21 Women's Basketball rolls to 94-35 victory over Lamar
11.15.2007 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Powered by the freshman duo of shooting guard Kathleen Nash and forward Rachel Rentschler, who combined for 42 points and 15 rebounds, the No. 21 Texas women's basketball team (2-0) posted a 94-35 victory over Lamar Thursday night at the Frank Erwin Center. For the second game in a row, five Longhorns netted double-figure scoring totals.
The Texas bench contributed 45 points in the winning effort. Both Nash and Rentschler came off the bench, and the rookie duo combined to shoot 13-for-22 from the floor.
Nash (Plano, Texas/Plano West HS) posted the first double-double of the year for the Longhorns with career and game-bests of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Rentschler (Keller, Texas/Forth Worth Christian HS) added a career-best 13 points. Rentschler went six-for-nine in field goal shooting, while Nash made seven of 13 attempted field goals.
The Longhorns, who led 51-15 at intermission, limited Lamar (1-2) to 23 percent shooting in the contest. The Lady Cardinals turned the ball over 25 times, and UT dominated in points off turnovers by a 25-8 margin.
Joining Nash and Rentschler in UT double-figure scoring were senior guard Erneisha Bailey with 13 points, junior post Aubry Cook (13 points) and sophomore guard Brittainey Raven (12 points). Junior post Ashley Lindsey chipped in with eight points, seven boards and a career-high tying six blocks. It marked the third time in Lindsey's career that she rejected six shots.
Texas took command of the game early on, jumping out to a 28-7 lead on a Raven fastbreak layup with 8:06 to play in the opening half. Raven scored 12 points and Earnesia Williams added eight in those first 12 minutes. In that opening span of 12 minutes, Lamar connected on just three of its first 22 shots and had nine turnovers.
Texas shot a sizzling 64 percent in the first half, making 21 of 33 shots.
The Longhorns had 11 blocks in the game. Texas scored 54 of its points in the paint, holding a 54-16 edge in scoring down low. UT also held a commanding 51-31 edge in rebounding and the edge in fast-break points (28-2). Texas finished the game shooting 12-for-15 from the free throw line, while Lamar did not make a trip to the foul line.
The Lady Cardinals were led by sophomore forward Brittney Williams who had 12 points and junior guard Nikki Williams (10 points).
The Longhorns return to action on Sunday, Nov. 18 when they travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to face No. 1 ranked Tennessee, the defending NCAA Champions. That game tips at 2:30 p.m. (CST) and will be televised on ESPN2. The game also will be carried on radio in Central Texas on KVET Radio 98.1 FM, which is a change from the usual KVET 1300 AM broadcast of the UT women's games. The game has been moved to the FM dial for Sunday due to the Dallas Cowboys broadcast on the AM station.
LAMAR POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH LARRY TIDWELL
Opening statement: I just got here in April and I am trying to put this team together. We have a lot of new faces. I'm going to be learning on the run. But you have to give credit to Texas. Texas is a great team and I tried recruiting each one of these kids when I was at TCU. They have a great team and a lot of credit goes to them and Gail [Goestenkors] and they are going to be able to do some great things at The University of Texas.
This was our first game playing without our leader, Ashley Crawford, who had an ACL injury in our last game. We'll have to find a new leader. We just didn't have any kind of rhythm tonight. I have young kids, but they are good kids and I like my team.
On the play of UT junior post Ashley Lindsey (eight points, seven rebounds, career-high tying six blocks): When I was at TCU, I thought we were going to steal Ashley Lindsey out of Central Texas, but Texas got her. She's a great athlete and a great person. I knew she was going to be a great player.
On the Texas defense: They've got great athletes and Gail (Goestenkors) is going to mix it up. She's going to pressure you and trap you. I like the way she runs her 1-3-1 zone and that's going to create a lot of turnovers as well. We just got through at Oklahoma State and we played pretty well up there. We lost our starting point guard to an ACL injury up there, so that hurt us tonight against the Texas pressure.
On the play of the Texas freshmen: I have watched those two kids since they were in junior high because they were both in the Dallas area when I was at TCU. They are just great players. [Rachel] Rentschler has the smoothest shot as you can imagine but [Kathleen] Nash does as well. Both of those kids are great competitors and great kids. They are putting them in positions to score. [Carla] Cortijo is an excellent point guard because she doesn't care if she scores or not.
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gail Goestenkors
Opening statement: I'm just really pleased overall with the win and I'm really proud of our players. I though we played with really good intensity and emotion and they had great focus throughout the 40 minutes. I was very impressed with our subs in particular. I thought they came in and just raised the level of play. Again, it's nice to have five players in double figures. I think three of the five are different than the ones we had before. It's nice to have different players you can count on to come through and score for you. Overall, I thought we played good defense as well.
On the offensive output: I knew that we had some tremendous athletes and I knew that they loved to run. I think it was just a matter of who wanted to score, and I think we found out that they all love to score. I think we're sharing the ball really well. I'm used to scoring a lot of points, so it's good these kids want to score and push the ball.
On Ashley Lindsey being more offensive-minded this season: She's been setting the tone for us early on. Ashley has been scoring for us in the beginning and scoring for us on the block. Tonight, she did a fabulous job blocking shots and changing shots. I just feel like this entire season we are going to see her grow and improve because she doesn't understand how good she can be.
On the Texas rebounding tonight: Overall, I was pleased with our rebounding effort. I know against Tennessee on Sunday, it's going to take an entire team effort, and you have to be very conscious of always putting a body on someone. We will continue to work on that for the rest of the week and we know it's going to be an incredible factor this coming Sunday.
On playing against Tennessee this Sunday: I think every game we continue to get better. I think we've improved in areas that the coaches have really challenged them on. I know that Tennessee will be ready to play and they are an outstanding team, as always.
Some people say that Knoxville is a tough place to play at, but I say that it's one of the best places to play in the world. To me, it's such a great opportunity and a wonderful challenge, if you are a competitor. I'm looking forward to it and I'm sure my team is as well. I think sometimes it's really good to be a freshmen, because you don't know any better and you just go and play. Different people react in different ways. I'll be really disappointed if we are intimidated. We just need to go play ball and it's all about learning more about yourself, especially at this time of year.
FRESHMAN GUARD Kathleen Nash
On getting her shots in during the game: I think our teammates encourage us to shoot, but the coaches help us with that as well. They tell us our roles and shooting was on both of our roles, so that is what we try to do.
On recording her first double-double: I didn't expect to have my first double-double in the second game of the season. Coach as just been telling me about my shooting and has been helping me with my shot. I haven't been shooting well the past couple of games, so she has been helping me with that. She told me that she has confidence in me and that really helped me with my shot tonight. My teammates did a great job of getting me open and kicking the ball out to me.
FRESHMAN FORWARD Rachel Rentschler
On not being shy on shooting the ball: I think our teammates are very encouraging to both of us freshmen (Rentschler and Kat Nash). At practice, our teammates and coach are always telling us to shoot it. When the guards drive, they open up shots for us and they give us confidence to shoot it.
On playing against Tennessee: Tennessee is a great team and we have a lot of respect for them. We know that we have to be intense and keep our intensity up. This is the kind of challenge you want and the kind of team you want to play against. This will help us know where we are this early on in the season.
JUNIOR FORWARD Ashley Lindsey
On being more offensive minded this season: I've been working on my offense in-season and during the summer and that's what I've been focusing on. I've worked a lot with Coach (Mickie) DeMoss on my post moves, and I've been working on my hook shot a lot so far. Also, I've been trying to bulk up, which is not really working, and my weight training is different than everyone else's. I have to do reps and heavy weights to gain strength. Coach G wants me to be able to play hard on both ends of the court for 40 minutes, and that's my goal.
