The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
11-4, 2-1
Oklahoma *
10-6, 1-2
Women's Basketball wins overtime thriller over Oklahoma, 79-74
01.08.2014 | Women's Basketball
GiGi Mazionyte's last-minute 3-pointer keeps the Longhorns alive.
Box Score (PDF) | Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery | 40 Acres Field Trip Photo Gallery
VIDEOS: LHN All Access | 40 Acres Field Trip
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Women's Basketball came back from a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat No. rv/22 Oklahoma, 79-74, in overtime on Wednesday in front of over 6,000 elementary school students in attendance for the third annual 40 Acres Field Trip at the Frank Erwin Center.
Senior GiGi Mazionyte made a 3-pointer with 36 seconds remaining in regulation to force UT's first overtime game of the season. Mazionyte finished with a career-high 14 points, including three 3-point field goals in the second half.
The Longhorns (11-4, 2-1) iced their first win over Oklahoma in the Karen Aston era by shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the overtime period.
Texas boasted three other players with double-digit scoring, led by sophomore Empress Davenport's 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 7-of-8 performance at the free throw line. Sophomore center Imani McGee-Stafford posted 13 points and junior guard Krystle Henderson scored 13. The Longhorns out-rebounded Oklahoma 49-to-31 and out-scored OU's bench 36-to-7.
Oklahoma (10-6, 1-2) was led by Aaryn Ellenberg's 37 points on 13-of-27 shooting. The Sooners were picked as favorites to win the Big 12 title in the preseason.
Oklahoma came out with the hot hand and started the game with a 10-2 run, knocking down two 3-pointers and two field goals.
Texas answered by scoring 10 straight points to go up 12-10. A jumper from Brady Sanders, two buckets from McGee-Stafford and two more from Davenport earned Texas the two-point advantage with 13:28 left in the first period.
Baskets were exchanged almost evenly between the rivals for the next eight minutes. Texas trailed 25-24 with 5:17 left when the Sooners caught fire again, going on a 13-2 run to close the half in the lead, 38-26.
Texas outrebounded Oklahoma in the first half 24-to-12, but the Horns gave up 14 turnovers compared to the Sooners' six. Oklahoma scored 22 points off those 14 Texas turnovers.
In the second half, Texas slowly chipped away at Oklahoma's 12-point halftime lead. The Horns went on a 15-4 run to get within one with just under 10 minutes to go. Texas could not regain the lead but got within one point three more times.
With 56 second remaining in regulation, Oklahoma's Kaylon Williams was sent to the line and made her first free throw but missed the second, giving the Sooners a 68-65 lead. Davenport snagged the ensuing rebound and pushed it up court to find GiGi Mazionyte in the corner who knocked down the go-ahead game-tying 3-pointer.
The Longhorns took two more shots before the final regulation buzzer but neither fell, sending the game to overtime.
Oklahoma struck first in the extra period with a layup to go up 70-68 before Davenport was sent to the foul line, where she made both free throws to even the score. Kelsey Lang made a jumper to go up by two before the Sooners made another layup to tie it once again.
With 52 seconds left in overtime, tied at 72, Sanders was fouled and sent to the free throw line. She made both shots to give the Longhorns the go-ahead lead. Lang made one more free throw and Henderson made four.
The Longhorns finished on top, 79-74.
Texas finished the game shooting 41.5 percent (27-of-65) from the field and 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from beyond the arc. The Horns also shot 70 percent (21-of-30) from the foul line.
The Longhorns continue Big 12 Conference play at West Virginia on Jan. 12 at 11 a.m. Central on FOX Sports Network.
• Series: Wednesday's game marked the 45th meeting between Texas and Oklahoma. Texas now leads the series, 24-21, including a 3-0 mark in overtime game.
• Starters: Sophomore Empress Davenport, sophomore Celina Rodrigo, sophomore Brady Sanders, junior Nneka Enemkpali, sophomore Imani McGee-Stafford. This is the third time this season and second consecutive game this starting lineup has been used. The Longhorns are 3-0 with the lineup.
• In the first half, Texas dominated on the boards and doubled Oklahoma's rebounding total, 24-12.
• Texas, who ranks eighth in the NCAA in scoring defense, held Oklahoma to 68 points in regulation and six points in overtime for 74 points total, 9.2 below their season average of 83.2 points per game.
• Texas outrebounded Oklahoma 49-to-31 and had 20 offensive rebounds for the game. Texas has outrebounded their opponents by an average of 14.7 rebounds per game this season.
• This was the first overtime game for Texas this season and the third overtime game in the series between Texas and Oklahoma. Texas is 3-0 in overtime games against OU and previously won 83-71 on Jan. 26, 2005 and 68-62 on Feb. 19, 2002.
• Texas outscored OU in bench points 36-to-7 and dished out 18 assists to Oklahoma's 10.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Imani McGee-Stafford
• Scored in double-figures for the eighth time this season with 13 points of 6-12 shooting in 20 minutes.
Empress Davenport
• Scored a team-high 15 points and hit 7-of-8 free throws in 31 minutes of play.
• Also dished out a game-, team- and season-high five assists.
GiGi Mazionyte
• Recorded career highs in points (14), rebounds (7) and minutes (29).
• Tied her career high in 3-pointers made with three.
Krystle Henderson
• Scored 13 points in 29 minutes of play.
• Dished out four assists and had two steals.
Brady Sanders
•Played a career-high 41 minutes and scored seven points to go along with five rebounds.
• Tied her career high in steals with three.
Texas Quotes
Head Coach Karen Aston
Opening Statement: First of all, what a fun day with the 6,000 screaming young ones here. It was a terrific environment. I want to commend our marketing staff and all of the people who were involved in making this day happen. It was really fun for our players to play in, it was fun to coach in and I know it was a lot of hard work by all of the people involved to make the 40 Acres [Field Trip] possible. So, it was a tremendous activity for us.
Second of all, I am so proud of our team. I told them in the locker room that we could throw the stat sheet away. I do not think that is why we won the game because of anything that was on that sheet. I think it was a matter of will and our team digging deep, believing in each other and making plays down the stretch. These two right here (Henderson and Davenport) made a lot of plays down the stretch. Empress in my opinion forgot about anything else going on and she competed, which is what it takes in a game like this. She forgot about shots, she forgot about Ellenberg shooting well and she just decided that the end of the game and the end of over time was a competition she was going to win. I think it says a lot for her. Again, I thought a lot of players made a lot of plays down the stretch. Gigi Mazionyte was terrific and a huge lift for us, and Krystle [Henderson] hit some really big free throws. So, I am really proud.
On whether the officiating frustrated her early in the game: I do not think it was necessarily that I was frustrated with the referees. I just think that our team sometimes wants to play aggressively. We have to figure out how the referees are calling the game and do a better job of reacting to that. We need to be a little more disciplined with the way we try to defend. But, there were a lot of fouls on both sides; both of us played aggressive. It disturbs the flow of how we try to play and I understand that. We have to get more disciplined with how we handle that.
On the scoring for Texas coming from many different players: It was a team win, no question about it. Our bench was terrific in the second half. We talk about GiGi [Mazionyte] and Kelsey [Lang] coming in off the bench, Krystle [Henderson] came in off the bench. The bench was the difference in the game, no question about that. But, I thought where we really made some changes and really won the game at halftime. We tried to talk about that this is where we were at Oklahoma State, we made some poor decisions offensively in the first half of the Oklahoma State game and I thought in the second half, they didn't take it personal that we were telling them to get the ball inside. They actually played off of our post players and I think it opened up shots for our perimeter players. It did get to the point where you didn't know who was going to take the shot. I think that is because they executed better.
On if this was the biggest win for her in her career so far at Texas: I enjoyed the A&M win, but I think at home in front of this crowd, the way we won today was fun as a coach. You enjoy a game like that when your team really dug deep, and I want to build on this. I want it to be a building block game for us.
Junior G Krystle Henderson
On her emotions after such an exciting win: I think it was a great team win, first and foremost. We had some good play off the bench; GiGi came in and stepped up when Nneka [Enemkpali] didn't have a good game. I think that we played together as a team. This is the first time that I have seen that we all came and dug in and stayed in for 45 minutes. It was a good win, it was a fun win.
On her last shot rimming out in regulation: I thought I had it. It rolled in and out, but we went into overtime and we got the win. Coach just told me to move onto the next play like she has been telling me all season. So, I am learning to do that, and I am learning to get my confidence back so that is a good thing.
Sophomore G Empress Davenport
On her emotions after such an exciting win: Out of all of the games we played, I feel like this is the most fun we have had. I think we all came together as a team. We have been working really hard in practice to work on the details. We had been struggling in the last few games to rebound, and from the stats tonight we outrebounded them 49 to 31. I feel like that is a confidence booster for us to get back to where we were last year because we rebounded the heck out of the ball. I feel like we all just went out there and had fun, I had fun. A lot of fun.
On having the large crowd and Coach Strong's support at the game: I didn't get to see him personally, but I think it is a great thing that all of our coaches support us regardless of what sport it is. Our president comes and watches us play, our athletic director, so I think it is just one big family, and I think it is just awesome.
Oklahoma Quotes
Head Coach Sherri Coale
On her thoughts about the game: I am not happy how it turned out.I thought we got off to a great start. We shared the ball well in the first half and we executed and made shots. In the second half, we started to turn the ball over, and we began to panic because we were turning it over and it started a snowball in the wrong direction.
On the key for Texas coming back: I see mostly our turnovers as the key for Texas coming back. We were at the 10 minute mark in the second half, and we had attempted maybe two field goals because we were turning the ball over repeatedly. That is such a psychological blow to your team. You have to get shot attempts at the basket. If you get a shot attempt, you at least have a chance at an offensive rebound. Your psyche can't maintain where it needs to be after repeatedly giving them the basketball.
G Aaryn Ellenberg
On her thoughts of the outcome: We just have to finish games. There were key possessions down the stretch with missed free throws, a wide open three with the lead, and turnovers. We need to finish games. Turnovers were the biggest thing for us, but you have to make plays late in the game.
G Morgan Hook
On turnovers: I think there were three possessions in a row where we turned the ball over. We didn't go down and react the way we needed to. We let them get an offensive rebound or a wide open shot. After we turn it over, we should have the mentality that we need to get a stop, and our minds were not in that place.
On relying on Aaryn too much at the end of the game: I think we did. We just looked to her and all of us just stood there and let her do her thing. In order for her to get easier shots, we have to move and we have to help her get the looks she needs.
