The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
No. 22 Women's Basketball cruises to fifth straight win with 88-41 victory over TAMU-Corpus Christi
12.08.2007 | Women's Basketball
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Behind a career-high 16 points from guard Crystal Boyd and 13 points from guard Brittainey Raven, the No. 22 Texas women's basketball team cruised to an 88-41 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday at the American Bank Center.
Texas improves to 7-2 and pushes its win streak to five games. The Longhorns shot 48.4 percent for the game while limiting the Islanders (1-7) to 26 percent shooting accuracy.
The Longhorns connected on a season-high nine three-pointers, going nine-for-21 from 3-point range. Boyd accounted for four of these treys, as she went four-for-six from long range, easily surpassing her former single game high of nine points, set as a freshman against Sam Houston State.
Texas dominated in points in the paint (a 36-10 margin) and in points off turnovers (28-4), as Corpus Christi turned the ball over 22 times to UT's 15.
This was the biggest margin of loss in the history of TAMUCC Islander basketball history. The previous biggest losses were 37 points twice, against Stephen F. Austin last year and against Oklahoma State.
Texas ran out to a 49-15 halftime lead, thanks to a 53 percent field goal shooting effort and a 12-for-13 performance from the foul line in the first 20 minutes. Texas had its best first half of free throw shooting on the year, and the 45 points scored were second-highest first-half total of the year. UT had 51 first-half point in a 94-35 win over Lamar on Nov. 15.
Texas limited TAMUCC to 23 percent shooting in the first half, as the Islanders connected on just six of 26 attempted field goals. TAMUCC also was 5-11 in free throws in the period.
TAMUCC turned the ball over 11 times, as Texas (eight turnovers) held a 16-4 edge in points off turnovers.
The game had one tie (at 2-2) before the Longhorns went on a 17-3 run over the next 4:48 and led by 14, 19-5 with 14:07 to go, capped by a Cortijo four-point play. Cortijo sank a long 3-pointer from the left wing and was fouled on the play, sinking the free throw.
The Islanders cut the Longhorns lead to single digits, 21-12 on a Shaye Montgomery 3-pointer with 9:19 remaining before Texas pushed the lead to 17, 34-17, as Cortijo nailed a short jumper with 4:06 remaining.
The Longhorns closed out the first half by scoring seven unanswered points on a five-for-six free throw effort and a Rachel Rentschler putback at the buzzer for the 26-point edge at intermission.
The first half saw balanced scoring from the Longhorns, with Bailey scoring nine points and Williams and Raven each adding eight points.
Texas now breaks for fall semester final examinations before returning to the court on Sunday, Dec. 16 when UT hosts Louisiana-Lafayette in a 2 p.m. (Central) game at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Redshirt sophomore guard Crystal Boyd's game-high 16 points also were a career high ... The prior high for Boyd was nine points, scored against Sam Houston State on Nov. 21, 2005 during her freshman campaign
- The Longhorns' win streak moved to five games - the program's longest in three seasons ... This is UT's longest win streak since Texas earned eight consecutive victories in 2004-05 over a period stemming from Feb. 9-March 9 ... Last year, Texas had four wins in a row (Nov. 20-Dec. 6) and also had four straight wins at mid-season in 2005-06.
- Texas now has out-rebounded all nine of its opponents this season
- Sophomore guard Brittainey Raven extended her double-scoring streak to nine games this season... Last year, as a freshman she had 10 games in double-figure scoring while playing in all 32 contests
- The nine 3-pointers by the Longhorns were a season high ... The previous single-game high for 3-pointers made was six, which UT scored against both Tennessee (Nov. 18) and Virginia (Nov. 23) - ironically, both losses for the 7-2 Horns
- Texas is now 4-0 all-time against the TAMUCC Islanders, a Southland Conference member ... Texas goes to 4-0 this season against the Southland Conference... In 81 all-time games against the Southland Conference, Texas stands 67-14, for a winning percentage of 82.8 percent.
