The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 9/12 Women’s Basketball opens season with 68-48 win over UTSA
11.15.2014 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns improve to 37-4 in home openers, including a 3-0 mark under Karen Aston.
Box Score (PDF) | Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas Women's Basketball opened the 2014-15 regular season with a 68-48 victory over UTSA on Saturday at the Erwin Center.
Sophomore center Kelsey Lang scored a team-high 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while sophomore guard Brianna Taylor and junior guard Empress Davenport scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Lang led Texas to a 31-15 halftime lead. The 6-foot-5 sophomore converted 6-of-8 shots in the first half. She scored so efficiently that other facets of her game might have gone unnoticed: five rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the half. Lang played only six minutes in the second half, because of foul trouble.
The Roadrunners went 6:26 without scoring during the first half and 7:48 without a field goal that helped Texas go on a 17-0 run.
UTSA cut its 16-point halftime deficit to three midway through the second half, but Texas pulled away with a 12-0 run during a span of under two minutes that included four made free throws from freshman Ariel Atkins.
UTSA freshman guard Carlie Heineman led UTSA with 15 points hitting five 3-pointers.
Junior center Imani McGee-Stafford is out indefinitely while recovering from a stress fracture in her left leg. Junior guard Brady Sanders missed the game with a right hand injury that she suffered in practice this week. Both were starters for the Longhorns last season.
Texas returns to action next week with a pair of top-25 matchups in California, facing No. 6/6 Stanford on Thursday, Nov. 20, and No. 23/23 UCLA on Sunday, Nov. 23. Both games will be televised on Pac-12 Network.
• Series: Texas now leads the series with UTSA, 5-0. The last two meetings between UT and UTSA have been season-openers.
• Starters: Senior guard Krystle Henderson, junior guard Empress Davenport, senior forward Nneka Enemkpali, freshman guard Ariel Atkins, sophomore center Kelsey Lang.
• Lone Star State Success: The Longhorns are now 425-104 (.803) against current NCAA Division I in-state foes
• Season openers: 31-10 (.756); 3-0 under Karen Aston.
• Home openers: 37-4 (.902); 3-0 under Karen Aston.
• Texas held UTSA to 48 points on 31.1 percent shooting. UTSA's 48 points is the sixth lowest opponent point total in a Texas season opener.
• Texas defense forced 28 turnovers and held UTSA to 31.1 percent shooting (14-45), including 23.8 percent (5-21) in the first half.
• Offensively, the Longhorns shot 45 percent (27-60) for the game, including 50 percent (14-28) in the first half.
• The Longhorns out-rebounded the Roadrunners, 43-29.
• The Texas bench outscored the UTSA bench 30-9
• The largest lead for Texas was 21 points, which came at the end of the first half
• Freshmen Ariel Atkins, Brooke McCarty, and Tasia Foman made their collegiate debuts.
Kelsey Lang (Sophomore, C)
• Finished with a team-high 12 points (6-9 FG), one point shy of her career high. This is Lang's sixth career game with double-digit points.
• Added three blocks and a career-high three steals in 28 minutes.
Nekia Jones (Sophomore, F)
• Recorded a career-high 10 rebounds (five offensive).
• Tied her career-high of two assists.
Empress Davenport (Junior, G)
• Scored 10 points (3-9 FG, 4-7 FT), marking her 22nd career game with double-figure points.
• Recorded a game-high four assists.
Brianna Taylor (Sophomore, G)
• Scored a career-high 11 points (5-10 FG, 1-1 3FG) with six rebounds and two steals.
Ariel Atkins (Freshman, G)
• Played a team-high 27 minutes and started in her collegiate debut, scoring six points (4-4 FT).
HEAD COACH KAREN ASTON
Opening Statement: Lots of credit to UTSA. I thought they came in well-prepared and with a really good game plan based on our strengths. They took away most of what we do really well and we started the game off thinking that we were going to do those things regardless of how they were playing us. I just didn't think our decision-making was great for a good deal of the game. We went on a run on the second half that was mostly in part to just going to a smaller lineup and giving them a different look from a pressing perspective and maybe from an energy level perspective. Brianna Taylor I thought was the difference in the game. Her energy gave us some life. Again, lots of credit to UTSA, because I thought they played terrific.
On what kind of decision-making wasn't sharp tonight: We were just in too much of a hurry. We just wanted to hurry up and score as soon as we got the ball -- whoever got the ball. We were running over people and we just got into a too big of a hurry. We needed to give their defense time to get out of position. We thought that they play like that but I didn't think that we adjusted to what we had been working on the last couple of days. I'm disappointed in the fact that we have been talking about that and then we get into the game not really thinking.
On how critical was Kelsey Lang's performance in the game: I think you could see it in the first half, how critical she is. She a driving force from the post perspective. She can shoot and had a great week of practice. I felt really good about how she would play today and she played well in the first half. Then she got herself into some foul trouble. Kelsey is still young and she's going to have to learn that sometimes giving up a basket is better than getting yourself in foul trouble. She'll mature with that but I'm really pleased with where she's at and I think she's an important piece of our team.
On the team's effort: We played the way we practiced the last couple of days, I can remember two days ago that we were preparing for this tram. And I specifically stopped them and said, "Your effort is tremendous but we're not playing very smart." Their effort was good, but the brains weren't doing what we were asking them to do. I think is just a matter of disciplining yourself. Effort is great and I have no problem with it I think that there were times where UTSA did a better job on the fundamentals, but I have no problem with our team's effort.
EMPRESS DAVENPORT (Junior, G)
On Texas guards: We have so much depth at the guard position. We have people that can come in and run the floor, people that can play all positions. I feel like we should never get tired as guards. I think that if we just focus on the game plan instead of just trying to score in a hurry, then we'll be fine.
KELSEY LANG (Sophomore, C)
On getting the first win: I think that as a team we definitely had moments where we struggled a little bit. I think that because we do have a lot of young players on this team, when we do struggle and are faced with adversity, it can only help us later on in the season when conference starts and going into the tournament.
On foul trouble: I think that no defensive player wants to get scored on. I need to learn how to play with three or four fouls because my team is going to need me. I hope that with experience that will come -- being smart and not going for blocks that I can't get.
UTSA HEAD COACH LUBOMYR LICHONCZAK
Opening Statement: I thought our team competed with a lot of heart. Made a great run at the beginning of the second half. I believe we cut it to three, but you have to give a lot of credit to Texas. They responded like a top-10 team at that point. Picked it up and took the game over at that time. I'm pretty pleased with our team. I know injuries are a part of things. I thought our kids did an outstanding job.
On Kelsey Lang: I see a big difference from her last she. She is in tremendous shape. She came back in this year with a mission to really contribute to the team. That length is difficult to handle. If we got caught on one-on-one situations, she took it to us. Our gameplan was to double her a little more, but if we were there late, she was able to convert one on one. That is difficult. You have to plan and scheme for that.
