The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
15-5, 3-3
Missouri
8-11, 1-5
Women's Basketball posts 67-37 win over Missouri
01.26.2008 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Junior post Ashley Lindsey scored a game-high 14 points and sophomore guard Brittainey Raven added 13 points as all 11 players scored for Texas, as the Longhorns upended Missouri, 67-37, Saturday afternoon in Big 12 women's basketball action at the Frank Erwin Center.
The win moves Texas to 15-5 on the year as the Longhorns even their Big 12 record to 3-3. Missouri drops its fourth game in a row and falls to 8-11 overall and to 1-5 in the league.
The 37 points were the third-lowest points ever by a Texas opponent in Big 12 play. The lowest amount of points given up was 34 - in UT's 63-34 victory over Kansas State last year (Feb. 3, 2007) in Manhattan, Kansas. The second-lowest opponent point total in Big 12 competition was 36 points in Texas' 72-36 win over Oklahoma on Feb. 26, 2005 in Austin.
The Longhorns forced 23 Missouri turnovers and capitalized on them, as Texas registered 28 points off turnovers to Mizzou's two points off turnovers. UT also got good production off its bench, as the UT reserves out-scored the Tiger reserves, 23-2.
Texas jumped out to a 16-7 lead to start the game, but Mizzou battled back to within three points, 20-17, when guard Alyssa Hollins nailed a 3-pointer with 7:22 left to go. Texas quickly countered with a 12-3 run to close out the half, a run highlighted by eight points from Bailey. In the final 7:22, the Tigers went one-for-eight from the floor and had three turnovers.
Texas led at intermission, 32-20 as UT limited the Tigers to 31 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes. Mizzou made eight of 26 of its first shots and also turned the ball over 12 times. Texas shot 46.2 percent in the half (12-26) and had 11 turnovers.
In the second half, UT tightened up the defense and took care of the basketball, turning the ball over just twice to Missouri's 11 second-half turnovers.
Texas more than doubled its 12-point halftime lead in the first eight minutes of the second period and led by 26 (48-22) following a Raven fastbreak layup with 11:41 to go. Down the stretch, the Tigers could get no closer than 22 points (50-28) as Texas pulled away to win by 30.
Neither team shot particularly well in the final half. Missouri made 36.4 percent of its shots (8-22), while Texas connected on 34.4 percent from the floor (11-32) but went 12-for-12 from the free throw line over the final 20 minutes.
Lindsey and Raven were the lone Longhorns in double-figure scoring. Forward Earnesia Williams added seven points, while point guard Carla Cortijo (four points) had a game-high six assists. Lindsey had four steals, a game-high, which tied her career best as well.
The Tigers were led by Hollins (12 points), their only player to reach double-digit scoring. Freshman forward Shakara Jones added nine points and six rebounds.
Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 30, facing their fifth Top 25 opponent of the year when they travel to Waco, Texas to face No. 6 Baylor. That game tips at 7 p.m. Central and will be broadcast on KVET Radio 1300 AM in Central Texas.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Texas sophomore guard Brittainey Raven (13 points) continued her double-figure scoring streak, extending it to a team-best 20 games
- The four steals by junior post Ashley Lindsey ties her career high in that category... Lindsey also had four steals as a freshman against Oklahoma on Feb. 15, 2006
- The 37 points allowed by Texas were the least amount by a Big 12 opponent in 16 league games (counting regular season and Big 12 tourney), dating back to last season when UT defeated Kansas State, 61-34 on Feb. 3, 2007 in Manhattan, Kansas
- In the last two games, both wins, Texas has received 40 points off the bench while the two opponents have gotten 10 points off their benches ... UT out-scored Oklahoma State off the bench, 17-8, and the Texas reserves outscored the Missouri reserves, 23-2 ...
- The last time UT limited a Big 12 team to this low scoring total at home (in Austin) was during the 2004-05 season when No. 13 Texas defeated Oklahoma, 72-36, at the Frank Erwin Center on Feb. 26, 2005
- Thus, the 37 points were the third-lowest points that Texas has ever yielded in Big 12 play, with the lowest amount being the 34 scored by Kansas State last year and the second-lowest being the 36 by Oklahoma in 2005
- The Longhorns went 18-for-19 from the foul line, while Mizzou was 1-7 from the charity stripe... Texas is now 9-2 overall (and 2-1 in Big 12 action) when they take more FT's than the opponent; Texas also is 8-0 overall (3-0 in the Big 12) when they make more FT's than the opponent
- Texas held a 41-30 edge in rebounding against the Tigers ... UT has now out-rebounded 15 of their 20 opponents to date while tying two others ... the Longhorns are 14-3 in games they have held the edge on the boards or tied in rebounding
- Texas is now 9-1 at home this year ... The Frank Erwin Center is ranked as the FIFTH-toughest arena in the country for opponents in Division I women's basketball ... Texas pushes its' all-time home record to 391-66 with today's victory - for a homecourt winning percentage of 85.6 percent
- The Longhorns are now 15-1 all-time against Missouri, and hold an eight-game win streak in the series
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gail Goestenkors
Opening statement: I was pleased with our overall effort. But, in the first half, I was not pleased that we turned the ball over so much. We were doing a really good job on defense and stopping them, but we were not taking advantage of our traps. There was a greater focus and energy in the second half, and we took care of the ball much, much better.
On the emergence of Ashley Lindsey's scoring in Big 12 play: We are trying to do a better job of establishing our inside game in the last couple of games. We need for Ashley to be consistent for us if we are to be as good as we can be. We need the inside-outside attack.
On the strong bench scoring the last two games (today, UT's bench out-scored Mizzou, 23-2): We need that spark and that scoring from our reserves. For instance, whether Kat (freshman Kat Nash) starts or comes off the bench, she gives us really nice minutes. We can put her in the post spot or out on the perimeter. She is such a spark for us. Then, there's Rachel (Rentschler) and Aubry (Cook) playing off the bench. Aubry did some good things again for us today. Right now, we are trying to get Niqky (Hughes) and Crystal (Boyd) back in game shape. When they are back at 100 percent, we will have some great depth.
On her team playing with more energy and passion on the court the last two games and what that means heading into Wednesday's game at No. 6 Baylor and then facing No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 21 Texas A&M in subsequent games: Like I've said before, you can teach a team all the x's and o's you want, but if you are not playing with great emotion, you will not be successful. If you don't have emotion and great chemistry, and if a teammate doesn't have your back -all the other things don't matter - you will not be that good. We need to play with great passion to be as good as we need to be.
Every game we are successful in is an important step in getting our confidence back. We lost it last week with the loss (at Texs Tech). Now, this week, with the win over Oklahoma State, we showed that we can play with anyone in the conference and with anyone in the country.
We really needed to put together back-to-back wins this week, and we did. And today, we didn't shoot great, but we did what was necessary to win. And, like I've said before, we are excited to go on the road. Is Baylor a big challenge? Yes. Every conference game is a challenge. We are not looking ahead to any stretch of games. We won't talk about anything except Baylor in practice to start this week.
SOPHOMORE GUARD Brittainey Raven
On the energy that Texas has displayed in the last two games: Well, when we play with a lot of emotion, it boots our confidence. We did not play with that at (Texas) Tech. It brings us together and gets us focused on what we are trying to do. More energy can help us with things like our big (18-2) run in the second half. At halftime, Coach G talked about how we had to have great help defense.
SENIOR GUARD Erneisha Bailey
Talking about Texas' help defense and defensive rotation play improving: We work on things like that in practice every day. It (help defense drills) is one of the first drills that we do every practice. I think Coach (Goestenkors) just wants to hammer it into us that we know our rotations and that we are there on the help side, especially when we are trapping. It's really important for us to have each others' back. Now it's starting to carry over a bit and we are helping each other out on defense and taking charges. Our rotations are just better.
MISSOURI POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH CINDY STEIN
Opening statement: Congratulations to Texas for a solid game today. Overall, their depth is amazing. They are tremendously athletic and wore us down, forcing a lot of turnovers. (Ashley) Lindsey so improved from last year and is developing into a good threat inside. Texas has perimeter scorers and slashers. It is coming together for them tremendously.
On her team: We have a young bunch of kids, and we are a work in progress. We will keep plugging away and hopefully have a chance to knock some people off. What hurts us are mental breakdowns at times, like we had today. When we had some good looks and they don't go down, you've got to come right back. But, it wasn't easy today, as Texas is a tremendous force on the boards. They were a little too strong on the boards for us tonight. And when they got a series of defensive boards, we gave them too many opportunities to score during those stretches.
On whether the switching Texas defenses gave them trouble: Well, we prepared for the fact that Texas would be mixing it up on defense. And, that creates problems for young point guards. Everyone has to make the right reads, and that did not happen today. This group (Missouri players) knows what to do, but it's been a problem with response time. Those are some of the things we are working on.
