The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
17-11, 5-9
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Kansas
15-12, 4-10
Women's Basketball nips Kansas, 57-53
02.27.2008 | Women's Basketball
LAWRENCE, Kansas -- Texas sophomore guard Brittainey Raven (game-high 21 points) and senior guard Erneisha Bailey (10 points) combined for Texas' final eight points of the game in the final 2:57 to lift the Longhorns to a 57-53 Big 12 victory over Kansas Wednesday night.
Texas snaps a three-game losing streak and goes to 17-11 overall and to 5-9 in the Big 12. The victory was UT's first on the road this year in Big 12 action in seven tries. The win also snaps UT's three-game losing streak.
KU, now 15-12 overall and 4-10 in the Big 12, was paced by a double-double from sophomore forward Danielle McCray who finished with 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Raven and Bailey were UT's lone double-figure scorers. Bailey also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Junior post Ashley Lindsey added eight points and five rebounds.
In the second half, Texas relied on a 12-for-14 shooting effort from the free throw line, and went six-for-six in the final 2:13 from the foul line.
Texas trailed most of the game, and took just its second lead of the game when Bailey stole the ball and hit a driving layup for a 51-49 UT lead with 2:57 to go. After a layup by KU's Krysten Boogaard tied the game at 51-51, Bailey sank both ends of a one-and-one to push UT back on top with 2:13 to go.
After another Boogard layup tied the game again (53-all) with 1:59 left, both UT and KU missed layups, but Raven was fouled under the Kansas basket with 27 seconds to play. She sank both ends of her one-and-one opportunity to give Texas a 55-53 edge. After McCray was called for a offensive charge on KU's last possession, Bailey iced the game by hitting two more free throws with 11 seconds to go.
Neither team shot well to open the second half, combining to shoot seven-for-23 from the floor in the opening nine minutes.
In the second half, Texas cut the Jayhawks' seven-point halftime lead to one, 36-35, with 10:35 remaining on consecutive baseline jumpers by Raven and Rachel Rentschler.
After a short jumper by KU's Sade Morris, Texas got an unlucky break seconds later when starting junior post Ashley Lindsey was whistled for her fourth foul with 9:23 to play. That sent Krysten Boogaard to the line where she hit both free throws to extend KU's lead to five (40-35).
The Longhorns, however, battled back again to take their first lead of the game, 45-44, when point guard Carla Cortijo hit a runner in the lane with 5:54 to go.
KU answered with a Jacobs short jumper in the paint, and, following a UT offensive foul which resulted in a field goal being waved off, KU scored on a McCray reverse layup to lead 48-45 with 4:57 left.
After that, Texas went on its game-ending run and free throw performance to pick up the victory.
The first half saw two early ties and KU leading the rest of the way. After a Raven driving layup tied the score at 15-all with her 10th and 11th points of the game with 9:22 to go, the Jayhawks out-scored UT 15-8 down the remainder of the half. Kansas led at the break, 30-23.
McCray led the surge, scoring six points. In the final nine minutes, the Longhorns scored two field goals -- both by Raven on a layup and jumper -- and went for-for-five from the foul line.
In the first half, the majority of the offense was provided by Raven and McCray, as both netted 15 points for their respective teams. Raven was six-for-eight from the floor and two-for-two from the foul line in producing her best offensive first half of the season.
Texas shot 33.3 percent in the first 20 minutes, going eight-for-24 from the field, as Lindsey (two field goals) and Raven (six field goals) accounted for UT's scoring from the field. KU made 42.3 percent of its shots (11-for-26), including three 3-pointers. KU also held an 18-15 edge in rebounding and had the advantage in second-chance points (9-4).
For the game, Texas shot 38 percent while KU hit 38.9 percent of its field goals. Texas out-rebounded the Jayhawks, 36-32.
In free throws, Texas held a big advantage, making 18 of 21 free throws. KU went eight-for-12 from the charity stripe.
The Longhorns return to action on Sunday, March 2 for their next-to-last regular season game. Texas travels to No. 10 Oklahoma for a 12:30 p.m. Central game televised on FSN (Fox Sports Net). The game also can be heard live on KVET Radio 1300 AM in Central Texas and via internet audio at Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast.
Texas will then close out the regular season with a home game, hosting Texas Tech on Wednesday, March 5. That game tips at 7 p.m. Central and will be broadcast on FSN Southwest.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Brittainey Raven (21 points) notched double-figure scoring for the 27th time in UT's 28 games ... She also had 20-plus points for the fourth time this season ... Her career high is 23 points, set against San Diego on Dec. 30 in the championship game of the Maggie Dixon Surf `N Slam Classic in San Diego ... That was the last time Raven netted 20-plus points in a game
- This year, Texas has played in 12 games which have been decided by 10 points or less - including eight of its last 13 contests (all Big 12 games)... Texas is 7-5 in these games -- 4-1 in games decided by 6-10 points (2-1 in Big 12 play), and 3-4 in games decided by five points or less (including a 2-3 mark in Big 12 action) ... Of those close games, five were on the road
- For the fourth game in a row, the Longhorns trailed at intermission (down 30-23 at the half tonight) ...tonight's comeback win puts Texas at 2-8 this season in games when it trails at intermission (including a 2-6 mark in Big 12 play)
- Texas snapped its' Big 12 away-game losing streak with its first road victory of the year in conference action ... Texas is now 1-6 in Big 12 away games ... UT also ended a string of 10 straight losses on the road, dating back to last year ... Prior to tonight, the last UT win on the road in Big 12 competition came last Feb. 3, when Texas defeated Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas by a 61-34 score
- In addition, tonight's road win was the first win away from Austin for Texas since a 81-79 win over San Diego at San Diego in that Maggie Dixon Surf `N Slam Classic title game (Dec. 30) the win over Kansas ends KU's two-game win streak in the series ... This was the 18th meeting between the two schools, with Texas leading play, 11-7
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gail Goestenkors
On Texas' play in the final minutes: I thought we became much more aggressive both offensively and defensively. A lot of times our defense ignites our offense. We got out in transition a little bit better than we had been doing all game. I think that the reality was that if we lost we felt that our NCAA bid would be close to nil. It hit home for us. We talked about that in a timeout. I told them that you just have to lay it all out there right now. You have got to fight for what you want. I thought the team responded.
On Kansas City native Erneisha Bailey's play: In particular I thought Ebay did a great job (down the stretch). She wasn't productive in the first half or in the second half and I told her that if you don't defend and rebound then I'm not ever going to play you again. And she responded. She's strong physical, athletic player, but sometimes we don't see that.
On scoring 21 points off turnovers: We need to rely on our defense and we need to come away with some steals. We average over 10 steals a game, but a lot of times we don't convert. I thought we did a better job of converting off the steal.
On Danielle McCray's play: Danielle is a tremendous player. We lost her so many times in the first half. We were in our zone and trapping, and we lost her. In the second half, we went with our man-to-man defense much more and we did a better job of keeping track of her. She's the total package. She can beat you off the dribble and she can hit the three.
SENIOR GUARD Erneisha Bailey
On trying to reach the NCAA Tournament: I'm the only one on the team that has ever been to the tournament, so I know what it feels like. I didn't get to play that much, but the fact that we were in the top 64 teams in the country is amazing. We all feel that we deserve to go, but it's just doing the little things.
On playing close to home: It's always fun. It seems like we have home-court advantage when I come to places like Missouri and Kansas because I am so close. It felt really nice.
SOPHOMORE GUARD Brittainey Raven
On handling the offensive load: I've been trying to focus on creating for my teammates, so I decided that I would penetrate and find the open person and make the defense make a decision. I just did my best to try to read where the openings were and get my feet set and my shoulders squared off, and I was able to knock some of those shots down.
KANSAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH BONNIE HENRICKSON
On letting a nine-point lead slip away: One of the bigger problems for us was that we started to turn the ball over. Then we would rush to the offensive boards like fullbacks and then give up lay-ups on the other end. We just have to be smarter than that. We also need to work harder. It is just disappointing that our offense couldn't get out of the 50's again.
On the 18 KU turnovers: We just have to make better decisions with the ball. Last year when we went to Texas and won, we turned the ball over 13 times. Tonight we turn the ball over 18 times and we would probably be a lot better shape right now if we had those five extra possessions.
On Danielle McCray: She had a tougher time scoring in the second half, but they were doing a good job of guarding her in the post. We set up some things for her, but she turned some shots on the baseline. A few times down the stretch I was telling her to pull-up instead of going all the way to the basket, but she will learn that as she continues to grow. Both her and Brittainey Raven played very well in the first half, but struggled to get touches in the second half.
SOPHOMORE GUARD LACHELDA JACOBS
On the last possessions of the game: The second half has always been our Achilles heel. There is something about going into the locker room and taking a break at half time that we have yet to figure out. We cannot come out in the second half and make turnovers. The big thing was they beat us in transition layups. We cannot do that against Iowa State. We have to find a way to win.
