The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
6-2
Arkansas-Little Rock
3-3
Women’s Basketball takes down UALR, 60-26
12.04.2013 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns' defense holds Trojans to 26 points on 19.2 percent shooting.
Box Score | Photo Gallery | Sanders presented with Judy Dunn Award
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Women's Basketball team defeated Arkansas-Little Rock 60-26 Wednesday night at the Erwin Center. The Longhorns (6-2) held the Trojans (3-3) to just 26 points on 19.2 percent shooting.
Freshman forward Kelsey Lang tied a season-high with 12 points while pulling down three rebounds. Junior forward Nneka Enemkpali recorded her fifth double-digit scoring effort of the season with 11 points and senior guard Chassidy Fussell added 12 points. In total, eight different Longhorns reached the scoring column. Sophomore guard Empress Davenport corralled a career-high 11 rebounds in 24 minutes of action.
Texas scored in the paint early and often. Forwards Lang and Enemkpali combined for eight of Texas' first 10 points to take the early 10-3 advantage. The hot shooting continued as Texas connected on its first two 3-point attempts to stretch the lead to 20-5 with 6:52 to go in the first. The Longhorn defense held UALR to just 16.7 percent shooting from the field and forced 13 first-half turnovers en route to a commanding 30-10 halftime edge.
The Longhorns have now allowed just 10 first-half points in back-to-back games. In its 40-year history, Texas has held opponents to 10 points or less in a half six times.
Texas carried the momentum into the second half, scoring the first nine points to extend its lead to 39-10. Going back to the 1:50 mark of the first half, the Longhorns held UALR scoreless over an 8:35 stretch, allowing Texas to go on a 14-0 spurt. Texas finished off the Trojans 60-26 to improve to 3-1 at home this season.
Sophomore forward Carolee Dillard led the Trojans (3-3) with a season-high 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
Texas faces No. 3/3 Tennessee on Sunday, Dec. 8, in Knoxville, Tenn., The game will be televised regionally on FOX Sports Southwest at 12 p.m. Central.
NOTES
• Series: Wednesday night's game marked the first meeting in program history between Texas and UALR. Karen Aston is 2-1 all-time against the Trojans.
• Starters: Krystle Henderson, Empress Davenport, Brady Sanders, Nneka Enemkpali and Kelsey Lang started for the third consecutive game.
• UALR's 26 total points is the lowest opponent point total since Texas defeated Southern 72-23 on Nov. 30, 2006.
• Texas limited UALR to 10 first half points which ties for the third lowest first-half point total of an opponent in UT women's basketball history. This is the second consecutive game Texas has limited their opponent to 10 first-half points (Memphis, 11/30).
• Texas held UALR scoreless over an 8:35 stretch during the game, beginning at the 1:50 mark in the first half. Over that span, Texas scored 14 unanswered points.
• The Longhorns out-rebounded the Trojans 49-25, with 13 total offensive boards. Texas has outrebounded each of their opponents this season.
• Texas reached their largest lead of the game, 60-24 (36 points), at the 2:21 mark of the second half off Ashley Roberts' first 3-pointer of the season. Previously, Roberts had gone 0-4 from beyond-the-arc and had been held scoreless in the first seven games.
• UALR's 16 second-half points tie for tenth for the fewest opponent second-half points. Texas limited UALR to 19.2 percent shooting for the game.
Empress Davenport
• Grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in 24 minutes of play. Tied her previous career-high in rebounds (8) with 4:29 left in the first half.
• Added four points and two assists.
Kelsey Lang
• Tied her career-high in scoring with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting to mark her third consecutive double-figure scoring effort.
• Started her third consecutive game. Also started against Texas A&M (11/29) and Memphis (11/30).
Brady Sanders
• Shot 1-for-1 from 3-point to score three points for the game. Has shot 10-for-17 from beyond the arc over the last four games and is shooting 54.5 percent for the season.
• Added four assists in 22 minutes of play.
Nneka Enemkpali
• Scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 17 minutes of play.
• Marks her fifth double-scoring effort of the season.
Chassidy Fussell
• Scored 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, in 19 minutes of play.
QUOTES
Head Coach Karen Aston
Opening Statement: As Mack Brown would say, 'You always take a win.' This team we played against is traditionally a very good basketball team. They were picked to win their league this year. Any time you can win over a good opponent you have to be happy with that. We are sharing the basketball. Extra passes and playing inside-out has really helped us. Very pleased that we were able to focus coming off of the Virgin Islands trip. We didn't have the ability to take any time off mentally or physically, and the team has had really tough week academically catching up on schoolwork.
On playing Tennessee Sunday: I think it is a fun game for the players. We want it to get back to a high profile game, like it always was. When Jody (Conradt) and Pat (Summitt) were coaching, it was a very high profile game every year. It was nationally televised, and it was important on the national scene. It is not looked upon the same way right now, but it is still a fun game for the players. They know the tradition and they look forward to it. It is circle on the calendar because it is fun and competitive. Any time you go up there it is a terrific environment for women's basketball.
On how Tennessee will challenge her team: I think they are a good defensive team, but I think tonight helped us in that aspect to be honest. People will look at the score tonight and say the game was insignificant, but Arkansas Little Rock's defense is really good. They are extremely physical and they make you go to your next option in the offense. They make you execute things and don't give you easy buckets. So for us to have to work on some of that was really good for us. It will prepare us for Tennessee from that stand point. On the flip side, Tennessee is very imposing on the offensive end as far as rebounding and transition is concerned. So that will be a huge challenge for us.
Sophomore G Empress Davenport
On rebounding game: My coach, Travis Mays, has been emphasizing that I rebound more. I think he's implemented that into my role, which it should have been last year. I just have been trying to focus on rebounding more to help the team. I take a lot of pride in defense, and I'm just getting a hang of this rebounding thing, but it will come along.
On Kelsey Lang's performance: I think it's very big because we all need depth on our team. With other post players not having a good night, it's great that Kelsey can come in and have the good night that she did tonight and the past few games. It's important that we have Kelsey and other post players that can get it done every night.
Freshman C Kelsey Lang
On her strong performance: I've been working really hard in practice. My teammates have been really helping me out. I just like to go out there, and do the best I can. I hope to do that every night.
On team playing well defensively: We have been working very hard on defense in practice. We don't have trouble putting the ball in the basket. We have been trying to be more aggressive on defense, as well as helping each other out. Help defense has been an emphasis in practice. I'm glad we have been playing defense as well as we have.
