The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Saturday, November 23
Austin, Texas
12:30 p.m.
University of Texas
3-1
54
vs
63
Stanford
4-1
1
2
F
Stanford
30
33
63
Texas
37
17
54
Women’s Basketball falls to No. 6/5 Stanford, 63-54
11.23.2013 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns (3-1) lose first game of the season to the Cardinal (4-1).
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery | Notes | Quotes
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Despite a seven-point halftime lead, Texas Women's Basketball lost its first game of the season to No.6/5 Stanford, 63-54, on Saturday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center.
Sophomore Imani McGee-Stafford recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds in 30 minutes. Senior Chassidy Fussell contributed a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds, while junior Nneka Enemkpali posted 11 rebounds and nine points in 26 minutes.
Texas (3-1) led 37-30 at halftime thanks in large part to a defensive effort that held Chiney Ogwumike to 2-of-11 shooting and just two rebounds.
The Longhorns' 6-foot-7 center McGee-Stafford blocked Ogwumike's first shot and altered several others. The preseason unanimous All-American missed everything but one 3-point attempt, and her last shot of the half, never made to the basket as McGee-Stafford stuck up a long arm to tip it in the first half.
Fussell scored 11 and Texas closed the first half with an 18-8 run over the final 6 minutes.
Stanford fought back in the second. McGee-Stafford already had a double-double when she went to the bench with a third foul, and the Cardinal struck with a 16-0 run. Ogwumike scored 10 in the burst. Amber Orrange's basket made it 41-40 with 13 minutes to play and Stanford never trailed again.
Texas misfired in the second half, missing 24 of 29 shots, while Stanford struggled with its own shooting. The Cardinal shot just 32 percent for the game, scored just six points in the paint and was just 15 of 25 from the free throw line.
Ogwumike led Stanford with 18 points, including 14 in the second half.
The Longhorns travel to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam Tournament from Thursday, Nov. 28 to Saturday, Nov. 30. The Longhorns will face Syracuse on Thursday, No. 13/11 Texas A&M on Friday and Memphis next Saturday.
• Series: Saturday's game marked the eighth meeting between Texas and No. 6 Stanford. Stanford leads the series 6-2, with the last meeting occurring Nov. 11, 2011 at the Frank Erwin Center. In the last meeting, Stanford edged the Longhorns 72-59 in Texas' season and home opener. Chassidy Fussell had a team-high 17 points on 5-14 shooting.
• Starters: Krystle Henderson, Empress Davenport, Chassidy Fussell, Nneka Enemkpali, Imani McGee-Stafford
• In the first half, there were eight lead changes with five ties. Texas outscored Stanford 10-0 in the paint, while Stanford outscored the Horns outside, making 4-of-14 shots from beyond the arc in the first half.
• Texas outscored Stanford in the paint for the game, scoring 16 to the Cardinal six.
• The Longhorns limited Stanford to 63 points, over 13 points under their season scoring average (76.2).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Imani McGee-Stafford
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Imani McGee-Stafford
• Recorded her 15th career double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 boards in the first half alone.
• Her 14 rebounds marked a season-high, and her 19th career game with 10 or more rebounds.
• Hit her first three of the season and the third of her career on 1-of-2 shooting from beyond the arc. Her last three came against TCU on Feb. 26, 2013.
Nneka Enemkpali
Nneka Enemkpali
• Lead Texas with 15 points on 4-16 shooting in a season-high 34 minutes of play.
• Dished out a season-high three assists.
• Scored six points on 1-of-7 shooting and grabbed three rebounds in a season-high 33 minutes of play.
QUOTES
Texas head coach Karen Aston
Opening Statement: You always want to give credit to a really good basketball team for road toughness and ability to execute on the road. I thought they were a lot better in the second half of doing what they do best. On the flip side of that, we were really good in the first half of taking away some of the things that they do best, and I didn't think we were near as good in the second half. I didn't think our competiveness or energy level was as good as it needed to be to play and beat a team like that. So we'll go back to work and figure out how to play a 40-minute game because we didn't do that today.
On how she handles playing so well for 20 minutes and the frustration of not finishing: Well I think we all knew this was a good measuring stick for our team right now. We had not been challenged up until this point. I didn't think we played terrible by any means. I thought we were competitive. We didn't make shots in the second half, and I didn't think we took advantage the first four minutes of the second half. We had an opportunity to widen the lead and get some momentum back going again, and we just couldn't handle that. We were lackadaisical. We let them settle in a little bit and once that happened, then it became a game and we got antsy and they got confidence. I think we took their confidence away in the first half. I'm pleased with the fact that we're light years ahead of where we were and that this was a competitive game but on the flip side, we have to be a lot better if we're going to challenge for anything in our league.
On if the sloppiness and turnovers were a big factor: It was sloppy, and that was where I thought our attention to detail went by the way side in the second half. We had limited turnovers. There were not turnovers in the first half that lead to transition on them and all of a sudden, we got lackadaisical, we got soft in the second half and that led to easy buckets for them. Again, we talk about attention to detail a lot, and I thought we paid a lot of attention in the first half, but that went by the way side in the second half.
On Stanford only scoring six points in the paint and if Chiney Ogwumike was intimidated: I don't think she was intimidated. She's played too many good players to be intimidated. I thought they did a good job of bringing her out and moving her around which is what they do a lot. Maybe they thought they had an advantage in the first half and that may have been the game plan, but they have the ability, because of her versatility, that they can move her around. Obviously, that's what they talked about at the half, just getting her out of the paint and letting her make some plays on the perimeter. She also got some transition buckets in the second half, after not getting any in the first half. I thought our interior defense in the paint was good. It obviously wasn't good when they stretched us out to the perimeter because you can look at it and see (Mikaela) Ruef with 11 (points) and Chiney (Ogwumike) with 18 (points). That's 30 points practically, half of their points.
Texas Player Quotes
Junior forward Nneka Enemkpali
On how frustrating it was to be so close to a win: It's extremely frustrating. We had an opportunity to win, but we didn't come out energized in the second half and in the post we didn't do what we needed to in order to help our team win.
Senior guard Chassidy Fussell
On how she felt about the game: Just like coach said, we had multiple opportunities to take advantage of their mistakes and didn't do that in the second half.
On her team holding Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike in check the first half: She was our focus in practice, and our post players did a terrific job in the first half of sticking to the game plan by forcing her to take jumpers when we know she wants to get in the paint.
On what Texas has to do to win these types of games: We have to sustain our effort and keep it the same throughout the game, especially in the second half.
On Texas' team compared to this time last year: We are so far ahead of what we were this time last year. We wouldn't have even known what to do at this time last year. But we know why we lost this game today, and now we have to go back in practice and correct the things we did wrong.
Stanford Quotes
Head Coach Tara VanDerveer
Opening Statement: First, I'd like to compliment Texas. I know Karen [Aston] and her staff are working really hard. Their team came out extremely aggressive. They were running on us, and I thought they were a very-well coached team and they are working very hard. We had a rough first half, and we had to make some adjustments at halftime, which I think our team did. We came out and we were much more aggressive in the second half. I'm really proud of how our team battled. It was not a pretty game, but a very big game for us to win. We have great leadership with Chiney [Ogwumike] and Mikaela Ruef. I thought Mikaela really helped us early, knocking down her shot. Chiney kind of picked up on the second half knocking down her shot. We learned a lot, and we're just going to get better from the competition.
On struggling to score in the paint: Texas' post players, 6-foot-7, 6-foot-5, I thought they did a good job defensively. We didn't really run and get out in transition to get easy shots, and they did a good job of, really with their size, and we're really not that big inside. We're more a forward team than a center team, and they have two excellent centers that took up a lot of space. Things were pretty physical in there. It just felt like we had a better chance going with some pick-and-rolls on the perimeter or some high post shots. I thought Mikaela did a great job of knocking down her shot early. We had some very good looks, and sometimes we just didn't knock them down.
Redshirt senior forward Mikaela Ruef
QUOTES
Texas head coach Karen Aston
Opening Statement: You always want to give credit to a really good basketball team for road toughness and ability to execute on the road. I thought they were a lot better in the second half of doing what they do best. On the flip side of that, we were really good in the first half of taking away some of the things that they do best, and I didn't think we were near as good in the second half. I didn't think our competiveness or energy level was as good as it needed to be to play and beat a team like that. So we'll go back to work and figure out how to play a 40-minute game because we didn't do that today.
On how she handles playing so well for 20 minutes and the frustration of not finishing: Well I think we all knew this was a good measuring stick for our team right now. We had not been challenged up until this point. I didn't think we played terrible by any means. I thought we were competitive. We didn't make shots in the second half, and I didn't think we took advantage the first four minutes of the second half. We had an opportunity to widen the lead and get some momentum back going again, and we just couldn't handle that. We were lackadaisical. We let them settle in a little bit and once that happened, then it became a game and we got antsy and they got confidence. I think we took their confidence away in the first half. I'm pleased with the fact that we're light years ahead of where we were and that this was a competitive game but on the flip side, we have to be a lot better if we're going to challenge for anything in our league.
On if the sloppiness and turnovers were a big factor: It was sloppy, and that was where I thought our attention to detail went by the way side in the second half. We had limited turnovers. There were not turnovers in the first half that lead to transition on them and all of a sudden, we got lackadaisical, we got soft in the second half and that led to easy buckets for them. Again, we talk about attention to detail a lot, and I thought we paid a lot of attention in the first half, but that went by the way side in the second half.
On Stanford only scoring six points in the paint and if Chiney Ogwumike was intimidated: I don't think she was intimidated. She's played too many good players to be intimidated. I thought they did a good job of bringing her out and moving her around which is what they do a lot. Maybe they thought they had an advantage in the first half and that may have been the game plan, but they have the ability, because of her versatility, that they can move her around. Obviously, that's what they talked about at the half, just getting her out of the paint and letting her make some plays on the perimeter. She also got some transition buckets in the second half, after not getting any in the first half. I thought our interior defense in the paint was good. It obviously wasn't good when they stretched us out to the perimeter because you can look at it and see (Mikaela) Ruef with 11 (points) and Chiney (Ogwumike) with 18 (points). That's 30 points practically, half of their points.
Texas Player Quotes
Junior forward Nneka Enemkpali
On how frustrating it was to be so close to a win: It's extremely frustrating. We had an opportunity to win, but we didn't come out energized in the second half and in the post we didn't do what we needed to in order to help our team win.
Senior guard Chassidy Fussell
On how she felt about the game: Just like coach said, we had multiple opportunities to take advantage of their mistakes and didn't do that in the second half.
On her team holding Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike in check the first half: She was our focus in practice, and our post players did a terrific job in the first half of sticking to the game plan by forcing her to take jumpers when we know she wants to get in the paint.
On what Texas has to do to win these types of games: We have to sustain our effort and keep it the same throughout the game, especially in the second half.
On Texas' team compared to this time last year: We are so far ahead of what we were this time last year. We wouldn't have even known what to do at this time last year. But we know why we lost this game today, and now we have to go back in practice and correct the things we did wrong.
Stanford Quotes
Head Coach Tara VanDerveer
Opening Statement: First, I'd like to compliment Texas. I know Karen [Aston] and her staff are working really hard. Their team came out extremely aggressive. They were running on us, and I thought they were a very-well coached team and they are working very hard. We had a rough first half, and we had to make some adjustments at halftime, which I think our team did. We came out and we were much more aggressive in the second half. I'm really proud of how our team battled. It was not a pretty game, but a very big game for us to win. We have great leadership with Chiney [Ogwumike] and Mikaela Ruef. I thought Mikaela really helped us early, knocking down her shot. Chiney kind of picked up on the second half knocking down her shot. We learned a lot, and we're just going to get better from the competition.
On struggling to score in the paint: Texas' post players, 6-foot-7, 6-foot-5, I thought they did a good job defensively. We didn't really run and get out in transition to get easy shots, and they did a good job of, really with their size, and we're really not that big inside. We're more a forward team than a center team, and they have two excellent centers that took up a lot of space. Things were pretty physical in there. It just felt like we had a better chance going with some pick-and-rolls on the perimeter or some high post shots. I thought Mikaela did a great job of knocking down her shot early. We had some very good looks, and sometimes we just didn't knock them down.
Redshirt senior forward Mikaela Ruef
On the 14-1 run that gave Stanford the lead in the 2nd, and what the biggest difference was on the floor: Honestly I think it had to do with how we changed the way we were playing screens. We started to be more aggressive on those and I think it forced them into some turnovers and we got some steals. Typically, we're not a team that normally gets a lot of steals, but we had nine this game. That was really good. We just stoked it up on defense, forced them into mistakes and got easy baskets in transition. Obviously, Chiney was scoring, so that always helps.
Senior forward Chiney Ogwumike
On what the difference was for her between the first half and second half: I've been comfortable being so close to the paint for so long. I know that the evolution of my game in particular and our team is to really spread it out and be a threat everywhere, everyone on the court. I think I've been able to stay close [to the basket] for a lot of games, but this game forced me to be outside. It was a little uncomfortable, but I'm just really proud of my team for really helping me build my confidence back in the second half. People were creating plays, being aggressive heading toward the rim. Sometimes the big games are what people talk about, but I think this game in really taught me and our team in particular really how to be mentally tough and stick with things. I think that helped us in the second half because they came out so aggressive in the first that we knew we had to step it up. We were down by seven at half, so we had to respond.
On how tough it was to play against Imani McGee-Stafford: I think it's challenging because she is so tall, and it changes your look at the basket. She's athletic, she's quick, she changes people's shots. It's tough, but most team nowadays have a big girl, so it poses a good challenge for us as players to expand our game, and that's one thing I'm working on. Today I think it was forced upon me.
Team Stats
STAN
UT
FG%
.323
.262
3FG%
.261
.250
FT%
.600
.750
RB
40
55
TO
9
20
STL
9
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4