The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
19-11, 7-9
Texas Tech
16-14, 4-12
Women's Basketball ends regular season with 70-55 win over Texas Tech
03.05.2008 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Sophomore guard Brittainey Raven poured in a game-high 20 points to lead three Longhorns in double-figure scoring as Texas defeated Texas Tech 70-55 in Big 12 women's basketball action Wednesday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
The game was the regular season finale for both squads. Texas will enter next week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Tournament at 19-11 with a three-game win streak. UT finishes Big 12 regular season play with a 7-9 mark. Texas Tech, which turned the ball over 21 times, goes into Big 12 Championship play at 16-14 and ends league regular season play at 4-12.
Texas had a season-low in turnovers (11) and shot 44 percent from the floor. Joining Raven in double-figure scoring were freshman guard Kat Nash with 12 points and redshirt sophomore forward Earnesia Williams (10). The Longhorn's lone senior, guard Erneisha Bailey, who was honored before the game in Senior Night ceremonies, finished with eight points and a game-high tying seven rebounds.
The seedings and pairings for the 2008 Phillips 66 Big 12 tourney will be announced Thursday, March 6 after the final two conference regular season games are played. The tourney takes place Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday, March 11-13 and 15 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
Regardless of the outcome of those Thursday night games, Texas is guaranteed the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 Championship which starts on Tuesday, March 11 and will play against either Texas Tech or Colorado at 6 p.m. Central in first-round play.
Thursday's games will determine the top league finishes and tourney seeds, as Baylor (24-4, 12-3) hosts Oklahoma State (22-6, 10-5) and Texas A&M (22-7, 10-5) hosts Oklahoma (21-6, 11-4).
Texas shot 44 percent against the Lady Raiders, limiting Tech to 34.6 percent shooting for the game.
Texas jumped out to a 27-18 edge at intermission behind 13 points from Raven. Tech turned the ball over 11 times in the first half. UT led by a many as 16 points (25-9) following a Raven layup with 2:58 to play, but Tech's Maddy Brown scored seven straight points for the Lady Raiders on two 3-pointers and a free throw as Texas Tech closed the gap to nine at intermission.
In the second half, Texas Tech cut the UT lead to four, 27-23 on a 3-pointer by Tiny Henderson with 18:24 to go. Texas then responded with a big run, out-scoring the Lady Raiders 17-2 over the next six and one-half minutes to pull ahead by 19, 44-25 on a Kat Nash layup with 11:34 to play. In that 17-2 run, six different Longhorns scored. Raven had five points and two steals in this span.
Tech held a slight edge in rebounding in the game (38-34). The Longhorns had 12 steals to Tech's five steals. Texas held the edge in points in the paint (30-20), points off turnovers (19-10) and second-chance points (11-6).
UT was 16-for-22 from the free throw line while the Lady Raiders went 12-for-21. Tech sank seven of 16 of their 3-point attempts, while UT was four-for-14 from long range.
Texas Tech had two players in double-figure scoring as Keisha Walker had 14 points and Dominic Seals finished with 12 points. In the Texas-Texas Tech first meeting this year on Jan. 20 in Lubbock, Seals had a career-high 27 points with 14 rebounds.
Texas ends homecourt regular season competition with an 11-3 mark. With tonight's loss, the Lady Raiders went 0-8 on the road in Big 12 regular season play.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Texas sophomore guard Brittainey Raven collected a game-high 20 points, registering double-figure scoring for the 29th time in 30 games
- With her 10 points, UT forward Earnesia Williams was in double-figure scoring for the 12th time this season and for the first time in five games
- Texas carries a three-game win streak into the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship ... In those three wins (against Kansas, No. 10 Oklahoma and Tech), the Longhorns held all three to 55 points or less ... Texas beat Kansas 57-53 and upset OU 65-50 before tonight's 70-55 victory over Texas Tech
- Texas has reached 19 victories for the first time in the last four years, dating back to the 2004-05 campaign when the Longhorns went 22-6 and advanced to the NCAA second round
- UT closes out the regular season 11-3 overall at home ... Texas went 5-3 at the Erwin Center in Big 12 play ... This is UT's 31st consecutive winning home record at the Erwin Center, dating back to the Erwin Center's first year of existence in 1977-78... The Longhorns have never had a losing season at home ... UT's all-time Erwin Center record stands 393-68 after 461 games - an 85.3 winning percentage
- that 85.3 winning percentage ranks as the FIFTH-BEST home court record in NCAA Division I women's basketball play
- Texas led at intermission, 27-18, and that was the first lead at the break for the Longhorns in the last six games, dating back to the Feb. 13th win over No. 8 Baylor, 61-51... In that contest, Texas led at the break, 26-19.... Texas is now 16-2 in games leading at the half, including a 4-2 record in Big 12 play
- Texas and Texas Tech split their home-and-home series this year ... Playing without an injured Earnesia Williams in Lubbock on Jan. 20, UT lost to the Lady Raiders, 70-58 ... The Texas-Tech Tech series is the longest series in Texas basketball history .... Texas leads the series play, 54-24
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gail Goestenkors
Opening statement: I'm just really proud of the team for our last three performances. We felt like our backs were against the wall and I thought we played some of our best basketball in these last three regular season games. I thought we peaked right at the right time, and we're really coming together. We played great team defense and did a pretty good job holding onto (Dominic) Seals tonight after she had a huge double-double against us in Lubbock earlier this year. They had some three's, and it spread things out a little bit more than we wanted at time. But, overall, I was proud that our team maintained its poise and composure and did what was necessary to widen the gap a little bit.
On the difference between the game in Lubbock (a UT loss on Jan. 20) and tonight's game: I think the difference was Earnesia Williams, because she didn't play in the first game because of an injury. Last time, Seals went around Ashley Lindsey and we dug ourselves a hole early. Seals was really good at making some reads last time and she had five offensive rebounds and she scored on those. I thought Earnie did a good job and our team defense was aware of where she was on the court. We were focused and ready to play.
On whether this win and a 19-11 record puts Texas into the NCAA Championship: I think we're definitely in the Tournament so that feels good, but we know that we are still on a mission. I believe we are playing some of our best basketball right now, and that's a good thing because this is the time of the year you want to start peaking. But, we have things to prove and that's also a good thing. Right now, our focus is on the Big 12 Tournament. We want to make a great showing in the Big 12 Tournament.
After we lost to Texas A&M two weeks ago, we had a team meeting the next day. I was very honest with the players about what we needed to do to get in the NCAA Tournament. I told E-Bay (Erneisha Bailey), our only senior, and the only player to ever go to the NCAAs, to talk to everyone about what it feels like to play in the NCAA Tournament and talk about the fact that it was now going to be us against the world to prove that we belong in the tournament. When we walked out of that meeting, you could feel an energy shift. By the time we left that meeting, the players were energized and we were ready to play the next day! It was a big turnaround. We walked out feeling good and we felt like we knew what we needed to do to get it done.
The difference in the last three games (all wins): I think its been our focus and energy. We've instituted a "hustlin' horn award" for the player who gives us the most hustle plays every day in practice or in a game. We haven't necessarily talked about shutting a team down but we usually talk about opponents' strengths and to up against those strengths, we've relied on great team defense. In past games, I think we've had great individual performances on defense, but in the past three games our team defense has been exceptional.
SENIOR GUARD Erneisha Bailey
On what she told her teammates about playing in the NCAA Tournament during her freshman year: When we went to the NCAAs my freshman year, I didn't play that much, but that didn't matter. It's a different kind of excitement, knowing that you're one of the top 64 teams in the nation. It's your chance to prolong the season, knowing that you have the chance to be number one at the end of the year. At least, you share that goal with 63 other teams. I told them that we have a great opportunity and we need to show everyone, the other teams and the (NCAA) committee, that we deserve to get in. I told them we have the opportunity to do some damage in the Tournament if we get there.
On playing her final regular season game at the Erwin Center (and, if UT receives an NCAA bid, her last game in Austin): When I walked off the court for the last time and everyone in the stands was chanting my name, I felt like I was in the movie Rudy. I had a big smile and honestly, I was choked up and wanted to cry, but I wouldn't let myself. Tonight went by really fast and it was really exciting. I'm glad everyone came out to watch and I'm especially glad we won.
SOPHOMORE GUARD Brittainey Raven
On what has sparked her great scoring over the last few games: When we have great defensive possessions and we get our transition going and get quick buckets and I'm in the flow, that's when my offensive gets going. My teammates do a really good job of getting me the ball and I start feeling it a little bit and it keeps going. Right now, I am staying focused and making better choices of when to go full out and not to go and pull back. That's pretty much it.
As a team, we all are benefiting because we're more patient on offense and we are doing a better job of reading the defense. When we just go out and play and don't overthink, then we don't hesitate, and we've been doing a better job of being patient and played within our offense.
JUNIOR FORWARD Earnesia Williams
On the team's attitude going into the Big 12 Tournament: We have some big wins against Kansas and Oklahoma, and now Texas Tech, so I think we're coming into the tournament with a lot of momentum. We know that we have to get everyone's respect, but I think we're a very powerful team right now.
On what she contributed to the win tonight: I think we kind of got it together on defense and some people hit some core shots to get the momentum going. My main focus was to really play good defense. Knowing that (Dominic) Seals had a really good game against us last time, tonight we had to limit her touches. I came in with confidence on defense from the work I did against (Oklahoma's) Ashley Paris on Sunday, so I thought I could do a good job tonight and limit her touches. She didn't score 20 points, so I think it was a mission accomplished.
TEXAS TECH POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH KRISTY CURRY
On the game: I think we dug ourselves in a hole and you have to give Texas a lot of credit. I thought the first 10 minutes in the basketball game is what cost us in the end. We tried to make our kids understand with their (Texas') situation and it being Senior Night here, and what a win would mean to them, that we would have to come out with a lot of energy. We missed some looks but at the same time I don't know if those are the looks we wanted. We couldn't recover and we had some strange things happen after that.
On the play of Maddy Brown: I think the biggest thing with Maddy is that she got injured and now she is just coming back. That is a costly thing for our team and we wish she had been with us all year. She's done a nice job of making some plays for us. In the second half, I think they had her number and when that happens, it opens up things for others and you have to give her credit coming in and giving us a spark.
On the difference between Tech's win in Lubbock against Texas and tonight: We came out more aggressive in the first game and we made shots. I thought we were poor from the (free throw) line tonight, but we have to keep shooting them in practice.
On the play of UT's Brittainey Raven: The thing with Raven is she is so good off the dribble. We allowed her to keep going right in the second half and it was in our scouting report to make her use her left hand.
