The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Midwestern State (exh.)
Women’s Basketball overpowers Midwestern State in exhibition, 119-75
10.31.2013 | Women's Basketball
Six Longhorns score in double figures in exhibition route.
AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Women's Basketball team rolled past Midwestern State, 119-75, in their exhibition victory Thursday night in the Frank Erwin Center.
Six different Longhorns finished in double-figures, led by senior Chassidy Fussell who knocked down four three-pointers on her way to 24 points. Senior GiGi Mazionyte came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 14 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.
Texas shot 59.4 percent for the game while dominating Midwestern State on the boards 54-19. The Horns grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, which lead to 23 second-chance points.
The Longhorns jumped out to a 12-0 lead before the Mustangs first score, and lead 19-5 heading into the first media timeout. Texas led by as many as 30 points in the first half.
Texas outrebounded Midwestern State 26-9 in the first half, however the Longhorns were plagued by 18 first-half fouls. The Mustangs were able to capitalize on 20 of 25 free throws on the to finish with 38 points in the first half.
Fouls continued to be a factor for both teams in the second half, as each team totaled 30 or more for the game. However, Texas was able to overcome foul troubles with hot shooting from sophomore Brady Sanders and Mazionyte, who had eight and 11 second-half points, respectively.
The Longhorns' regular season begins Sunday, Nov. 10 against UTSA at the Frank Erwin Center.
QUOTES - Karen Aston
Opening Statement:
I think it's always good to get in front of a group of people and get the lights turned on and get some real officiating, which obviously we needed desperately because we have been talking quite a bit about the rule changes, and I think that until you get out there with some real officiating you aren't going to know how it is going to be. So I think this was a good learning experience for us. It slowed the game down defensively for us. I thought we went through a segment where we thought that if we were going to get a foul, then we just wouldn't play defense at all. I do think that we are shooting the ball better. I think that's obvious. We're a better shooting basketball team than we were last year. I think we understand the offensive flow better, so I'm pleased with that. I'm just very, very displeased with our defense.
On if there is a difference in Chassidy Fussell offensively this season:
I think she keeps herself very, very sharp. Some of it was the coaching change, and some of it was she had adversity last year and just couldn't ever get into a flow. She had an injury very early in the year, and she had some personal stuff. I just don't think that she could ever get comfortable or in a flow, and she is obviously much more comfortable this year. I'm more comfortable with figuring out how to get her shots, too.
On Krystle Henderson leading at the point:
I obviously started her, so I thought she had a good week of practice. That was probably what gave her an edge over Celina. I thought Celina's floor game was actually very good tonight. When you look at their assists/turnover ratio, Celina's was very good. There were times that I could tell that Celina understood a little bit more about what I was saying just because she has been here and has heard it, where Krystle started off great. The energy she gave us that started the game was really good, but as it went along, you could tell that she was puzzled about some things. I think she is still going to be a work in progress for a while. I said this at media day, and I will continue to say that we will be a work in progress for a while.
On GiGi Mazionyte and her presence:
The thing you can always count on GiGi with is her effort. Because of the lack of playing time that she got last year because of her injuries, she's still trying to get comfortable with some offensive schemes and where to be at a certain time. I think she'll just keep getting better and better because she didn't get enough playing time last year. She's healthy, and you can always bank on her playing hard. She makes up for a lot of mistakes because she just keeps playing hard. She was good tonight.
