The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
7-8, 0-4
Oklahoma State
13-2, 2-2
Women's Basketball defeated by No. 21/18 Oklahoma State, 64-52
01.13.2013 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Women's Basketball team fell to the No. 21/18 Oklahoma State Cowgirls, 64-52, in a Big 12 tilt on Sunday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center.
Texas (7-8, 0-4 Big 12) held close through the first period and opening minutes of the second half, but Oklahoma State (13-2, 2-2) pulled away with strong shooting from sophomore guard Liz Donahoe, who scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half. Junior guard Chassidy Fussell led all Texas scorers with 11 points.
Sophomore forward Nneka Enemkpali scored 10 points to go along with seven rebounds, but the Longhorns were held under to under 40 percent from the field for the fourth straight game, shooting 30.9 percent on Sunday. Texas was outrebounded by their opponent for only the fourth time this season and the Cowgirls were able to hold the Longhorns to just 18 points in the paint while converting 32 of their own.
After scoring just seven points in the first 10 minutes of the game, Texas came alive with a 13-3 run over the next five minutes totake a 20-19 lead. The run was a balanced effort for the Longhorns with buckets from five different players, including junior guard Gigi Mazionyte's first points of the season on a three-point shot.
Freshman forward Sara Hattis came off the bench in her best performance of the season and sparked the comeback with a blocked shot, rebound, and four points in the opening half. Hattis finished the game with a season-high six points.
Oklahoma State closed the opening frame on an 8-2 run and was led by double-digit scoring efforts from Toni Young and Brittney Martin in the first half. Young led all scorers in the game with 17 points.
The Cowgirls opened the second half strong, stretching the lead to 10 points by converting Texas turnovers into easy fast-break layups. OSU broke the game open with a 10-2 scoring run to extend the lead to as many as 14 points and put the game out of reach.
UT will host the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Wednesday, Jan. 16 in a 7 p.m. Big 12 matchup. The game will be broadcast nationally on Longhorn Network.
POSTGAME NOTES - TEXAS vs. OKLAHOMA STATE
TEAM NOTES
-Texas is now 24-12 all-time against Oklahoma State, with the two teams having split the series in 2011-12.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
-Posted double figures (11 points) for the 10th game this season and 64th game in her career
-Led Texas in scoring for the fifth time in 2012-13.
-Reached double-figure scoring (10 points) for the 11th time this season and 12th time in her career.
-Grabbed double-digit rebounds (11) for the eighth time this season.
-Led Texas in rebounding for the fifth time in 2012-13.
-Matched her career high in rebounds with seven.
-Scored a career-high six points and added two rebounds and a block in 14 minutes of play.
-Has swatted a block in each of the last two games.
Gigi Mazionyte
-Scored her first points in a Longhorn uniform, a pair of 3-pointers in nine minutes of play.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas head coach Karen Aston
Opening statement: I want to reiterate that I thought we had good effort. We have to look at that at this point in the season. We have to look if we are giving the kind of effort needed to win basketball games this season and I think we are from a defensive standpoint. I thought we were really good in the first half, but as the half went on theykind of broke us down a little bit. I thought that the area we were not good enough in [today] was the turnover game. I did not think we rebounded the ball today the way that we have. They got a lot of second chances that really broke our backs.
On offense: In the second half, we came out of halftime and reset a little bit and made some stops. We did not make good decisions out of those stops. We did not have enough patience to reverse the basketball. We tried to do too much. It looks like selfish play sometimes, but it is just impatience. It led into their transition and the run that decided the game.
On young players: The people that are taking ownership are really young, so I am asking freshman and a sophomore and junior college transfer to take a lot of ownership. It is hard for them. If they had bad attitudes or if they weren'ttrying, I would be very frustrated, but I don't feel that way. It is not in them to quit. They are preparing better, but when they get into the games, they are still young and they forget what we have prepared.That will come with time.
Sophomore F Nneka Enemkpali
On being a team leader: I think as young players, we measure our success on wins and losses. The fact that we had early success in the season and now we are notdoing as well, we have to hold each other accountable and uplift each other. That is what I try to do. We just have to move on.
Oklahoma State head coach Jim Littell
Opening statement: I was very pleased to come in and get a road win. I thought it was a sloppily played game probably on both teams part, but anytime you can go on the road and come out with a win you've got to be pleased. I thought it was a gutsy performance on our kids' part, basically playing five people. We played four [for] 39 minutes and you get tired during that time, but I thought they were gutsy and did some good things at the end of the game. Executed a lot better in the second half to get a well-needed road win.
On telling his team to take responsibility throughout the game: I thought it had to be a game based on toughness. We were showing we were beat up too much. That's what we were talking about. Be tough. I know you're hurting, but let's fight through it and we'll rest tomorrow. Be responsible for executing what you've got to do on our offense. Be responsible for blocking out on the backside. We knew going into the game that the best thing that [Texas] did was rebound the basketball. We felt that the team that won the rebound battle would win the game. We gave up 16 offensive boards but kind of countered that with 17 [offensive rebounds]. That was a big part of the basketball game.
