The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Missouri
Women's Basketball defeats Missouri in Big 12 tourney, 70-57, for Jody Conradt's 900th career win
03.06.2007 | Women's Basketball
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Texas women's coach Jody Conradt picked up her 900th career win as the Longhorns routed Missouri 70-57 on Tuesday night in the first round of the Big 12 Conference women's tournament.
Freshman Earnesia Williams -- playing in her home state of Oklahoma -- scored 17 points to lead seventh-seeded Texas (18-13) into a quarterfinal contest Wednesday against second-seeded and 11th-ranked Oklahoma, a team with which the Longhorns split a pair of regular-season games.
Conradt is 900-306 in 38 seasons -- four at Sam Houston State, three at Texas-Arlington and 31 at Texas. Among NCAA Division I coaches -- male or female -- she trails only Pat Summitt of Tennessee, who has 941 wins entering the NCAA tournament.
Immediately after the game, the Longhorns surrounded Conradt in celebration as the milestone was announced over the public-address system at the Cox Convention Center. The Texas pep band followed with a rendition of "The Eyes of Texas."
Texas entered the Big 12 tournament having lost six of its previous seven games, but the Longhorns looked sharp from the opening tip, shooting a season-best 60.5 percent from the field in the first half.
The Longhorns led 14-5 less than five minutes in, extended their lead to double digits by the 13:38 mark and held a 23-point advantage at 38-15 seven minutes before halftime.
Texas led 46-27 at the half and Missouri (17-13) -- despite a brief rally to open the second half -- came no closer than 10 the rest of the way. The Tigers had lost 79-77 in overtime to Texas during the regular season and are 1-14 all-time against the Longhorns.
With her team down by 16 with 12:32 left, Missouri coach Cindy Stein received a technical foul. The Tigers pulled within 63-51 on a 3-pointer Alyssa Hollins with 8:01 left, but never seriously threatened Texas' grip on the game.
EeTisha Riddle led Missouri with 20 points and added eight rebounds, but no other player for the Tigers reached double figures in scoring. Carlynn Savant had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers, who committed 22 turnovers.
Texas center Tiffany Jackson had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Brittainey Raven and Erneisha Bailey added 13 points each for the Longhorns. Bailey also had five of Texas' 14 steals.
POSTGAME NOTES
- With her 900th victory, Jody Conradt and Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt are the ONLY collegiate basketball coaches - men's or women's - to reach the illustrious 900-victory plateau ... Summitt, in her 33rd season, is 941-180 in her career to date as Tennessee enters the 2007 NCAA Championship ... Conradt is now 900-306 in her 38th season overall - Texas is now 13-9 in all-time Big 12 Championship tourney games
- The win moves Texas into Big 12 Championship quarterfinal action against No. 2 seed and 12th-ranked Oklahoma (23-4) ... Texas and OU split the home-and-home regular season series, with unranked Texas upsetting No. 9/8 OU, 67-62 in Austin on Jan. 31, before No. 12/9 Oklahoma defeated Texas, 78-58, in Norman, Okla. On Feb. 12
- Texas senior forward Tiffany Jackson registered her 11th double-double of the year (12 points, game-high 14 rebounds) and her fourth in the last 10 games ... Those 14 rebounds tied Jackson's season high, which she has reached four times this year
- Oklahoma will be the 11th Top 25 opponent of the year for the Longhorns ... In games against Top 25 competition this year, the Longhorns are 3-7 overall (3-2 at home, 0-5 in away games)
- Longhorn redshirt freshman Earnesia Williams (team-high 17 points) was in double-figure scoring for the fifth time in the last six games ... Those 17 points were two shy of her career high... Williams' 7-for-7 effort from the free throw line were career bests in both FT made and FT attempted
- Freshman guard Brittainey Raven finished with 13 points, reaching double-digit scoring for the third game in a row ... Raven is averaging 14.7 pp in this span
- Redshirt freshman point guard Carla Cortijo has an impressive assist-turnover ratio in the last four games with 34 assists and just nine turnovers... She had six assists against Missouri, pushing her season total to a team-best 143 ... Cortijo now also has the second-most single season assists by a Longhorn freshman, surpassing Nekeisha Henderson who had 140 assists in 1991-92 .. The freshman record is held by Terri Mackey with 166 assists in 1980-81
- The win gives Texas the 2-0 edge in play over Missouri this year and extends the Longhorns win streak in the series to seven games ... The Longhorns won the regular season meeting, 78-77 in overtime on Jan. 10 in Columbia, Mo. ... This was the first time that Texas and Mizzou met in Big 12 postseason tourney play
