The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
Women's Basketball falls to No. 15 Baylor, 71-56
02.18.2007 | Women's Basketball
WACO, Texas -- Freshman guard Latara Darrett came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points to lead four Lady Bears in double-figure scoring, as No. 15 Baylor posted a 71-56 win over The University of Texas Sunday in Big 12 women's basketball action in front of 8,360 at the Ferrell Center.
The loss, Texas' fourth in a row and all against Big 12 opponents, drops the Longhorns to 16-11 overall and to 5-8 in the league. Texas was hurt by cold first-half shooting and 20 turnovers, which Baylor capitalized on. The Lady Bears (23-4, 10-3) scored 25 points off UT turnovers. Baylor is now in a three-way tie for first in the Big 12 standings with Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Texas is in a three-way tie for seventh (with Oklahoma State, its next opponent, and Colorado).
Texas was led by 16 points from redshirt freshman forward Earnesia Williams and a double-double from senior forward Tiffany Jackson (12 points, game-high 13 rebounds). It was Jackson's 10th double-double of the year and third in the last six games. Those 13 rebounds give Jackson 994 in her career, moving her into the No. 4 spot in all-time Longhorns rebounding and putting her six boards shy of becoming just the fourth player in UT history to pull down 1,000-plus rebounds.
Texas trailed at the break, 30-22, but tied the game at 38-all with 12:08 to play following a short jumper by Jackson. (That was the first tie in the game since a 14-14 tie midway through the first half).
After the Jackson jumper, the Longhorns made just one field goal and a free throw in the next span of 3:27, as UT turned the ball over three times and missed a jumper as well. Baylor took advantage, and broke the 38-38 tie on a Bernice Mosby 3-pointer from the wing, regaining the lead for good with 11:22 to go. Jackson hit one of two free throws on UT's next possession to cut the lead to 41-39, but Baylor responded with an 8-0 run, capped by a Darrett fastbreak layup, to lead 51-41 with 8:41 to play.
The Longhorns then cut the lead to seven, 51-44, on an Ashley Lindsey free throw and Brittainey Raven layup with 7:57 remaining. That was the closest the Longhorns would get, however, as Baylor went on another 8-0 to pull ahead by 15 (59-44) with 5:54 remaining.
Texas shot 50 percent in the second half, making 12 of 24 field goals attempted, but could score only 12 points in the final 7:57 of the contest.
In the first 10 minutes of the game, the two squads traded baskets, with the biggest lead four points. Texas led by two, 14-12, on a Williams jumper with 10:26 to play before the Lady Bears took the lead for good in the half with an 8-0 run, with Mosby scoring four points and Tisdale capping the run with a long 3-pointer from the wing with 5:46 left.
Texas cut the lead to four, 24-20, on two Gabriell Mattox free throws with 3:24 to go. Then, the Longhorns then went cold, missing their last seven shots of the half from the field with two made foul shots and two turnovers, as BU out-scored Texas 6-2 in the final three-plus minutes to take a 30-22 lead into halftime.
Texas was seven-for-32 from the floor in the first half, making 22 percent of their shots, and went eight-for-nine from the foul line. Baylor shot 34.4 percent (11-32) and out-rebounded the Longhorns, 28-24.
Texas was hurt by foul trouble, as two starters (Brittainey Raven and Jackson) both picked up three first-half fouls. That forced Raven to sit for nine minutes in the initial period.
Texas ended the game hitting 36.2 percent from the floor, going 21-for-58, while Baylor shot 41 percent (23-56). Baylor held a 42-40 edge on the boards. The Lady Bears went 20-for-31 from the free throw line and sank five of nine 3-pointers, while Texas was 14-for-20 from the charity stripe and 0-12 in 3-point attempts.
Guard Angela Tisdale netted 12 points for Baylor, while Mosby and guard Jhasmin Player finished with 10 points apiece. Mosby had eight boards for BU.
The Longhorns return to action for two games this week - their final two regular season home contests of the year. Texas hosts Oklahoma State (17-9 overall, 5-8 in Big 12) on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. (Central) in Austin and then hosts Texas Tech (Saturday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. on FSN national TV).
The game is not televised, but will be broadcast live on KVET Radio 1300 AM in Central Texas and via internet audio (at subscription-based Yahoo!Sports at www.TexasSports.com).
Tickets to all Texas Basketball home games may be purchased online at TexasBoxOffice.com; by calling 800-982-BEVO or 512-471-3333; in person at any Texas Box Office outlet, including Austin-area H-E-B stores and the UT Athletics Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. CT); and in person one hour prior to game time at the Frank Erwin Center box office.
It will be "UT Spirit Appreciation Night" for the Texas-OSU game. Fans wearing UT apparel can purchase one reserved seat for $7. There also are $4 general admission tickets with the web coupon found at "Bevo's Bargains" on TexasSports.com.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Texas is now 3-6 in games against Top 25 opponents on the season (2-3 in Big 12 action)
- With her 12 points and 13 rebounds, UT senior Tiffany Jackson recorded her 10th double-double of the season
- Those 13 rebounds bring Jackson's career total to 994, and she is just six rebounds shy of becoming just the FOURTH person in UT basketball history to log 1,000-plus rebounds... Jackson also moved to No. 4 in all-time rebounding in the Baylor game, surpassing Cinietra Henderson (983 boards from 1988-93) for the No. 4 position
- Jackson also is one steal shy of tying for No. 3 in UT career steals .. She has 302 steals (getting one vs. Baylor) and is one away from the No. 3 position held by Esoleta Whaley (303 from 1980-84)
- Redshirt freshman Earnesia Williams finished with 16 points - three shy of her career high - and has now been in double-figure scoring 10 times, second-best on the club to Jackson's 22 games in double-digit scoring
- Baylor, ranked No. 1 nationally in blocks per game (7.7 bpg), had seven blocked shots to set the school single season blocks record with 209 .. Former mark was 204 in 2002-03 ... Baylor is averaging 9.6 rejections in its last three games
- Texas leads the all-time series with Baylor (52-19), yet Baylor has a four-game win streak in the series
- For only the second time in Texas program history (in either Southwest Conference or Big 12 competition), Texas has lost four conference games in a row... Texas also lost four straight in 2001-02, when UT was 10-6 in the Big 12 and a NCAA Sweet 16 participant, finishing 22-10
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt: Some games, we've shot ourselves out of a chance to win. Today, we fouled ourselves out of the chance. There is always a stretch in our losses where we do not adjust. We were down by three in the second half, and we had an inability to make a change -- we'd get a foul, or a turnover, a missed shot. Credit Baylor. They did a good job in all facets today. You cannot give up 20 points from the foul line against a team as good as Baylor is and expect to win.
We are in it almost every game except for these little spells like you saw in the second half. We had them leveled off offensively until we gambled too much defensively and up some easy things. It shows in not boxing out, or not catching the ball. We made too many mistakes and we have a small margin of error. We cannot give up possessions and expect to win against teams like Baylor. Most of our breakdowns came in the transition game when we didn't get back, and then they hit three's which is demoralizing. Our foul situation was serious today. E-Bay (Erneisha Bailey) was the only one to foul out for us, but E-Dub (Earnesia Williams) and Brittainey Raven played with four fouls for a while, as did Carla Cortijo.
I was happy that we stayed with our game plan and played heads-up basketball until that point in the second half where we fouled, fouled and fouled some more.
On whether it is a crucial time for victories for the team to be considered for NCAA play: We've had a sense of urgency for quite some time. But, our players don't feel like they cannot do it. They've stayed very focused and connected. We know we've put ourselves in a hole. We lost a cushion by losing two games on the final play (versus Texas Tech and Kansas). We don't think it's impossible, and we are working hard at it (to get better) every day.
BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES
Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey: I was proud of our team today. Our bench played critical minutes again for us. When Texas made its run early in the second half, like we knew they probably would, I like how we responded. I didn't have anything magical to say when I called a timeout, I just called it to change the momentum, and we responded. I felt like Texas was making a run and that we needed to get a deep breath and make some defensive changes. At that point, I threw it back into their laps -- asking, do you want to stay in man or go into a zone? What do you want to run, Tizzzy (Angela Tisdale)? You need to let them learn and grow in these situations. And, I think they did and we countered what they were doing.
If she thought Baylor would be tied for first at this point in league play: If you had asked me that in November, I would have said, `have you studied our roster?' How can you not be proud of them right now, especially considering what we lost from last year's team. If we win three more games, we win the (Big 12) championship. We control our own destiny. I am not satisfied yet, but still am pretty proud of where we are right now with the team we have. I do know this -- if and when we lose again, I know these players will have left everything on the floor in doing so.
