The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
1-0
UTSA
0-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas-San Antonio | 31 | 29 | 60 |
| Texas | 28 | 43 | 71 |
No. 12/14 Women's Basketball defeats UTSA, 71-60
11.13.2009 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Brittainey Raven was suspended for the first half of Texas' season opener against Texas-San Antonio because she overslept and missed a class this week.
She returned in time to wake up the Longhorns.
Raven scored 11 points and No. 12 Texas rallied for a 71-60 victory Friday night.
"I did oversleep, but as a captain, leader, and a senior, I should have gotten up and gone to class," Raven said. "I apologized to my teammates and it will not happen again."
Ashley Gayle had 12 points and six rebounds for the Longhorns. Ashleigh Fontenette added 10 points and five assists.
With Raven on the sideline for missing a class this week, Texas trailed 31-28 at halftime. But she entered at the 17:56 mark and helped spark a 25-11 run in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
"Brittainey does a great job creating shots for herself, and for others," Texas coach Gail Goestenkors said. "She is great at finding the shooters on the floor."
Amber Gregg had 12 points for Roadrunners (0-1), who shot just 28 percent in the second half. Ashleigh Franklin had 10 points and 12 rebounds and Whitney York also scored 10.
"Texas played extremely well in the second half," UTSA coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair said. "Their zone definitely bothered us. We could not get a shot off."
POST-GAME NOTES
TEAM
-Texas is now 33-3 in all-time home openers and 27-9 in all-time season openers.
-UT improved to 865-287 all-time in the Frank Erwin Center.
-The Horns are 24-7 at home under third-year head coach Gail Goestenkors.
-Texas leads the all-time series against UTSA, 3-0.
-Texas took its first lead of the game at the 17:36 mark in the second half with a basket from Ashleigh Fontenette, 33-31.
-Texas underclassmen scored the first 16 points of the game.
-Texas opened the second half with an 11-2 run, and took its largest lead of the game with 1:15 left in the second half, 71-54.
Ashleigh Fontenette
- Registered 10 points including back-to-back lay-ups in the opening four minutes of the second half to put Texas ahead 35-33.
- Reached double-digit scoring for the 10th time of her career.
-Dished out a game-high five assists, one shy of her career high (six) ... led the team in that category for the sixth time in her career.
Ashley Gayle
-In 17 minutes of action, registered a career-high 12 points (3-of-4 FG, 6-of-9 FT), six rebounds and four blocks.
-Led the team in scoring for the first time of her career and shared the team lead in rebounding for the third time of her career.
-Added four blocks to move her career total to 64...fifth time of her career she's recorded four or more blocks.
-Posted four points and two blocks in the first five minutes of the game.
Brittainey Raven
-Posted 11 points (4-of-4 FG, 1-of-1 3FG, 2-of-4 FT), all in the second half... was perfect from the field for the first time in her career.
-Reached double-digit scoring for the 64th time of her career.
Cokie Reed
- Recorded nine points in her career debut as a Longhorn... also added five boards and one steal.
TEXAS QUOTES
HEAD COACH Gail Goestenkors
Opening remarks: I give a lot of credit to UTSA. We knew that they were a good team, like I said, we saw the Baylor game last year, and they are very well coached. They are very tough players. They played a very physical game. They changed up their defense and played personnel. We were in a dogfight, so I give them a lot of credit. As a team, for our first game, of course I am happy that we came away with a win, and there are things that we will be able to take away from this and work on. Things that we need to work on. They were more physical than we were for a good part of the game.
On the second half: I thought that we played much better in the second half. We picked up our tempo. We picked up our intensity on defense. We played smarter and did not allow as much dribble penetration.
On Cokie Reed: I think that she settled in. We told the team that they had double teamed Baylor at post, and we thought they might. We worked on it, but until you really feel it at game speed, I think that our post kind of fell into the trap of putting the ball on the floor. Once they adjusted and understood what was there, they knew that they could take a quick shot and move quickly to get a shot off or at least get fouled. I think that helped.
SOPHOMORE GUARD Ashleigh Fontenette
On Brittainey Raven: When Brittainey is in, the defense has to focus on her because she penetrates so well, which leaves us open for shots.
FRESHMAN CENTER Cokie Reed
On her first game: I was nervous at first, but I settled down in the second half, and it got better.
SOPHOMORE FORWARD Ashley Gayle
On changes she made in the offseason: I have been working on my offensive post game from the post season through the summer. In preseason, the coaches have really stressed my offensive game, so I have been doing a lot of work on it. Just knowing that they are undersized in the post position, they took advantage of my height.
On working on her game during the offseason: We have all been working hard through the summer, and I have been doing a lot of extra individual work with the coaches as well as with our weight trainer. It is nice to see it paying off.
UTSA QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rae Rippetoe-Blair
Opening remarks: Texas is a very good team, and I thought that we played really hard. I thought that we stuck with our game plan in the first half. The biggest thing that we knew Texas could do was really get the ball inside. I thought that we did a good job of doubling, and we did a great job of rebounding in the first half, which was one of our biggest concerns. I think that what hurt us in the second half was the offensive rebounding and the transition.
On the first half: I thought that we played extremely well. I thought that we had a few turnovers there, and that was a little disappointing, but I think that we did a great job of rebounding. Then I think that we kind of went away from that, I do not know if we got tired or what, but they really crashed hard. I thought Texas played extremely well in the second half. I think we went away from some things that we did, and their zone definitely bothered us. We could not get a shot off. I really wanted us to be a lot more aggressive against the zone.
On the takeaway from tonight's game: I think they will learn to stick to our game plan the whole way and not go away from it. I think that our freshmen are going to fight for us, and they are really going to step up. I am just very proud of this team tonight. It is just going to take us a little time with our chemistry.
C Whitney York
On the first half: They were in man, so coach just told us to attack. We just tried to get to the rim the best we could, and we were successful at that in the first half.
On what the team will take away from this game: Mostly we just have to learn to stick to the game plan. I think that will come along as the season progresses.
G/F Judy Jones
On what the team will take away from this game: I agree [with Whitney York] that we should just stick to the game plan and not let anything bother us or get us off track. We just need to stick with it.
