The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
5-1
UCLA
5-1
No. 12 Women's Basketball Falls To No. 17 UCLA, 62-42
12.08.2012 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2012
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HOUSTON (AP) - Alyssia Brewer had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 17 UCLA held No. 12 Texas to 24 percent shooting en route to a 62-42 victory Saturday in the MD Anderson Proton Therapy Showcase.
Jasmine Dixon added 10 points for the Bruins (5-1), who have played three ranked teams already this season.
Nneka Enemkpali had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Texas (5-1) - her school-record sixth straight double-double. No other Longhorn player had more than six points as Texas hit just 15 of 63 field goals and committed 29 turnovers.
UCLA led 13-12 midway through the first half when it scored 15 straight points to pull away for good.
The game was played at Reliant Stadium, home to the NFL's Houston Texans, as part of a Texas-UCLA men's and women's doubleheader.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES
-Today's game marked the 10th meeting between Texas and UCLA ... the Bruins hold a 5-4 record, having won the last matchup between the two teams, 63-60 in Los Angeles (Nov. 28, 2004) ... Texas won the last neutral-court meeting, 74-51, in Corvallis, Ore. (Dec. 20, 1979).
-The Longhorns have outrebounded each of their opponents this season ... Texas held a 50-45 advantage on the boards over the Bruins and led UCLA in second-chance points (17-8).
-Texas faced its largest deficit of the season, 23 points, at the 7:22 mark of the second half.
-Fifteen first-half points tied UT record for fewest points scored by a Texas team in the opening stanza ... occurred twice previously, most recently Jan. 5, 1996 at Old Dominion.
-The Longhorns' 14 made field goals tied for second fewest by a Texas team.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Nneka Enemkpali
-Recorded sixth consecutive double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds), the first Longhorn to accomplish the feat in program history.
Imani McGee-Stafford
-Started her first game in a Longhorn uniform, posting eight rebounds and two points in 17 minutes of play.
Nadia Taylor
-Tallied season-highs in rebounds (three) and minutes played (14).
Empress Davenport
-Matched season-high from the line (two).
Anne Marie Hartung
-Scored a season-high five points (1-of-5 FG, 3-of-4 FT) in a season-high 21 minutes ... her three made free throws also tied a season-high.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS QUOTES
Head Coach Karen Aston
Opening statement: Credit to UCLA, I thought they really did a great job of out-executing our team. You can't look at a loss like this by the point difference. There were times that we were still in it, so to say. We were making strides. I was extremely disappointed by our effort plays in this game. That has a lot to do with not shooting the ball well. Young kids get discouraged and stop making effort plays when they start basing things on offense. We got really discouraged today. That is a sign of youth, immaturity and lack of leadership.
On the future of the team: I hope they start paying attention to detail in practice. Coaches can sometimes see things coming based on how players are practicing. Unfortunately, we may have had a little bit of a cloudy vision of who we are. We need to understand that the only way we can win basketball games this year is to play hard-nosed defense. I am hoping that this is a reality check for them and we can go back to work.
On the play of Nneka Enemkpali: I am a big believer in how you look in practice all week. The one thing I can say for Nneka is that she comes every day and performs in practice. I think that is why she is fairly consistent. Rebounding is effort. She comes to play every day in practice.
On raising awareness for the MD Anderson Proton Therapy Center: The benefit that [playing in this game] has for cancer research is enough said. We are very privileged to be a part of what is going on today.
UCLA QUOTES
Head Coach Cori Close
Opening statement: Well, thank you all for being here. We always appreciate the coverage you give college basketball, specifically college women's basketball. So, thank you for that. True confidence is only earned by conquering hard things, and we beat a good team tonight. It means something to us because of the respect we have for Texas, especially along the front line. We are really pleased that we were able to defend and rebound and play with great passion. I think that helped us earn a very good win. Hopefully, this builds our confidence as we move towards the Pac-12 season. I am very proud of our team. We have a lot of room to grow, but we beat a very good Texas team.
On focusing when playing with a lead: I thought that was where we grew the most today, with the mentality, the championship mentality. Teams go out there and stay focused. It's not about Texas at that point; it's about us having a focused mindset. Possession by possession, what do we need to do to be successful on that possession. I thought our depth was a piece of that as well. We were able to rotate so many players, so we were able to stay focused in short bursts. I thought that was a big key. But mentality is everything. For us to have a focused mentality with a big lead points to our maturity. We have four strong seniors. I think that comes from senior leadership.
On what turned the game after Texas got out to an early lead: Well, I think going to our zone defense didn't hurt. But, even more importantly than that, when I called timeout, Texas was playing to their strengths. They were going inside, they did a great job of getting the ball to their big people early. Frankly, they out-hustled us and played with more passion during the first four minutes of the game. After that, I thought we played more consistently and with more passion. It really had to do with focus and energy more than anything else.
On pressure defense put on Texas guards: Their strength is their front line. So sometimes you would think, let's just pack it in more and make them prove it from the outside. But our guards were doing a great job of getting deflections and disrupting the vision of their young guards. We were really worried about their ability to lob versus our zone. I thought our guards were the difference, in keeping the ball out of the high post. They either saw it or got deflections.
On defense against Texas F Nneka Enemkpali: What a credit to her. She plays so hard. We were able to force her into some tough situations in the first half. She is a handful with her relentlessness and her athleticism. I wouldn't say we did a spectacular job, I would say we did what we needed to do. Credit to her, she is who we game-planned around, and she is going to be a big force in the Big 12.
On playing Texas without Longhorn G Chassidy Fussell: She might have pulled us out of that zone a little bit. But I think we still would have game-planned it the same way.
On playing in the MD Anderson Proton Therapy Showcase: I think this is a great thing to do, not just with our men to have a shared experience, but playing for a great cause. It's always good for us to realize there is a lot more going on around us that is bigger than basketball. To have a shared experience with our men and help raise awareness for this cause, it's a huge thing. How cool to play in this kind of environment? I think we had a lot of growth from this, and we are thankful for the opportunity.
Senior F Alyssia Brewer
On today's game: I really focused on things I wasn't doing in other games. As far as defense, I still could have done better. As far as individual defense, I did a pretty good job. I also focused more on the leadership role and keeping the team involved on every possession and keeping them focused.
Senior F Jasmine Dixon
On tonight's game: I would say we went out there and stuck to our principles. We were focused on getting better, running the plays and executing, just playing Bruin basketball.
