The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
12-2
UT-Pan American
8-8
No. 16 Women's Basketball wins 10th in row, downs UT Pan American, 91-43
01.04.2008 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas -- All 11 players scored for No. 16 ranked Texas, with five of them reaching double-figure scoring, as the Longhorns extended their win streak to 10 games with a 91-43 women's basketball victory over Texas-Pan American Friday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
Texas moves to 12-2 with the win, while UT-Pan American, limited to 31.5 percent shooting, falls to 8-8. The Longhorns had five players in double-digit scoring for the second time this season, led by 13 points from junior post Ashley Lindsey and 11 points apiece from senior guard Erneisha Bailey, sophomore guard Brittainey Raven and freshman guard Kat Nash. Junior post Aubry Cook came off the bench to log her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play.
UTPA turned the ball over 25 times to UT's 13 turnovers, with Texas holding a commanding 35-11 edge in points off turnovers.
The last time Texas won 10-plus games in a row happened during the 2002-03 Final Four season when UT went 30-5 and won 17 straight down the stretch. The last time Texas won 10 in a row was during the 1995-96 season when Jody Conradt's squad (21-9) won 10 straight throughout February and into March in the final Southwest Conference regular season of play.
Texas jumped out to an immediate lead, hitting seven of its first 10 shots and two free throws for a 19-0 lead just 4:33 into the game. Raven notched seven of those 19 points. In that stretch, the Lady Broncs never got untracked, turning the ball over eight times while missing their first three shots. UTPA got on the board when senior guard LeKeisha Gray (game-high 21) points nailed a three-pointer with 15:14 to go to make the score 19-3.
The Longhorns extended their lead to as many as 34 points in the half (44-10) on a Rachel Rentschler layup with 3:58 remaining.
Texas took a 51-20 lead into halftime, as the Longhorns make 20 of 34 shots (59 percent) while limiting UTPA to 35 percent shooting. UTPA had 14 turnovers. Texas controlled the boards in the first half, 22-10.
In the second half, Cook led the balanced attack with six points and six boards en route to her first career double-double.
Texas cooled off to shoot 43 percent in the final half, finishing the game with 51.7 percent shooting accuracy (35-69). UTPA made 31.5 percent of its shots (17-54) in the game. For the 13th time in 14 games, Texas out-rebounded its opponent by the largest margin of the season (23), 49-26.
Texas also went seven-for-17 from 3-point range, as Nash led the 3-point assault with a three-for-five effort from behind the arc.
UTPA's Gray entered the game ranking fifth nationally in 3-pointers per game (2.8). She finished five-for-nine from 3-point territory. UTPA's strength is its' three-point shooting, as the Lady Broncs were ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division I in three-point percentage (40.3) entering the contest. UTPA finished six-for-23 from long range.
Gray was the lone double-figure scorer for UT-Pan American, Senior guard Tiona Wilson added nine points. Texas limited her to just one-for-three from behind the arc, as Wilson is the nation's No. 2 top 3-point shooter, hitting 40.3 percent of her long range field goals.
Texas will now turn its attention to Big 12 Conference regular season play. UT, picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, travels to Lincoln, Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 9 for a 7:05 (Central) conference clash with Nebraska. The Huskers will enter with a 10-3 record, having gone 7-1 in its last eight starts. The game will air live on KVET Radio 1300 AM in Central Texas and via the internet on subscription-based Yahoo!College Sports.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The Longhorns had 13 turnovers, the second lowest team total of the year ... Texas has now notched back-to-back games of season lows in turnovers ... Texas committed 12 in the 81-79 win over San Diego (Dec. 30) ...
- The 7 three-pointers by Texas tied for the second most single game treys on the year ... Texas also had seven treys versus Louisiana-Lafayette (Dec. 16, 7-23), with the most 3-pointers being nine against TAMUCC (9-21 on Dec. 16) ...
- Sophomore guard Brittainey Raven (11 points) stretched her double-digit scoring streak to 14 games
- Aubry Cook's double-double marked the third consecutive game that a UT player has logged a double-double in points/rebounds... Junior Ashley Lindsey had double-doubles against No. 12 DePaul and San Diego... Cook's double-double was the fourth of the year for Texas
- with 91 points tonight, the Longhorns have reached or surpassed the 90-plus point mark five times this year in 14 games ... these are the most 90-plus point games in a single season since the Longhorns registered 90 and more points a total of five times during the 2003-04 campaign when they went 30-5 and were NCAA Sweet 16 participants... the last time Texas notched 90 or more points more than five times in a season happened in 1993-94 when the 22-9 Longhorns did it seven times
- Texas's 51 points tied for the most points in a first half this year by the Longhorns and also tied for the second-most points in a half... the 51 equaled the 51 first-half point UT produced in its 94-35 victory over Lamar on Nov. 15 and were second to the 52 points Texas notched in the second period against Sam Houston State on Dec. 2...
- UTPA's 20 first half points are fourth lowest of the year by a UT opponent in the first 20 minutes of play ... the lowest first half point total was 14 by Sam Houston State in the 91-41 UT win
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gail Goestenkors
Her opening statement: Overall I was pleased with our play. I thought it was a great team effort and I thought our subs in particular came in and contributed. We didn't loose any intensity or focus and it was nice to see everyone contribute and play well. I am pleased with the progress that we are seeing. I've seen continual improvement in practice. We're doing so much better with sharing the ball and in knowing what we want to get accomplished. I think we've improved daily and I believe we've come a long way. I'm excited about where we're headed.
On Carla Cortijo, who left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury: We're a little bit worried, but you control what you can and we'll see the extent of the injury once she gets x-rays. She looks good, but we won't know anything until we get the reports back. I thought Britt (Brittainey Raven) and E-Bay (Erneisha Bailey) did a good job stepping up for her in the point. Good teams find a way to make adjustments when players go out, and someone like Kat Nash certainly has been a good player coming off the bench. We also have given E-Bay and Brittainey chances at playing point in other games and throughout practices. You always want to prepare for an injury, illness, or foul trouble. I now think they're much more comfortable playing the point now than they've ever been.
On starting Big 12 Conference play Wednesday at Nebraska: I'm excited. I love big games and now I know that every single game is going to be a big game. I get highly motivated for the challenge and I sense that our players will, too. I know that this conference represents a huge challenge for all of us.
JUNIOR POST Aubry Cook
On her role on the team: Once Carla went out, I went up to her and told her that we would have her back. I know my role every game is to focus on rebounding and post defense, because when we sub in we need to rebound because that's where we get our energy from - the offensive and defensive rebounds. Heading into the Big 12, I agree with Coach G that our confidence is high because of the way we are playing, but I've been through the Big 12 twice already. We're not taking anything for granted. Any night (the results) can go any way.
UT-PAN AMERICAN POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH DEANN CRAFT
Her opening statement: Texas is ranked for a reason. I thought their defense was fabulous and they took us out of the game so early that it took us a while to relax offensively. I give full credit to Coach Goestenkors, the staff and all the Texas players. Obviously it is a dimension we cannot simulate in practice because of their height and lankiness. We tried to make Texas work and I'm proud that we didn't quit. Without LeKeisha (Gray) it would have been a downward spiral and I thought our players did a good job recognizing her production and getting her the ball.
We needed this game to be a possession war. You have to have a short-term memory in basketball or else you'll carry mistakes to the other end of the floor. To start off, very few of our players had played here in the Erwin Center in front of a crowd. We were big- eyed to start, and you cannot afford to give a team like Texas that plays such great defense so many offensive opportunities. In their quick start, I know the basket looked so big for them and it was so so small for us. You have to adjust and make it a possession war, and that's what I told my players at every time out. We finally strung together some good possessions, but it was hard to recover. It's too bad that we could not get into our half-court pressure defense, because that is our best "D". We couldn't play it and could not execute our defensive scheme because we could not string together any baskets in the first few minutes of the game.
On playing both Baylor and Texas this season and the comparisons/contrasts between the two teams: They have different styles. I think the one thing we really stress is the offensive board (rebounding) ability, an ability that Texas collectively brings to the court. You have to collectively box out the entire Texas team. I feel that the depth of Texas was greater. And, I think tonight that Texas played faster than what Baylor plays, and that surprised me. They took a lot of shots quicker than what we expected and they just hammered us on the boards.
