The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Tennessee
No. 6/9 Women's Basketball preview: No. 4/5 Tennessee
11.28.2014 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns face the Lady Vols for the 36th time on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Central (FOX Sports 1).
Game 5: #6/9 TEXAS (4-0) vs. #4/5 Tennessee (4-1)
Date/Time: Sunday, Nov. 30 | 5:30 p.m. Central
Site: Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)
TV: FOX Sports 1 - Ron Thulin (play-by-play), Brenda VanLengen (analyst)
Radio: 103.1 FM iHeart Austin or TexasSports.com - Roger Wallace (play-by-play), Fran Harris (analyst)
Live Stats: TexasSports.com
Tickets: TexasSports.com/tickets or 512-471-3333
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Notes at a Glance
• No. 6/9 Texas (4-0) faces No. 4/5 Tennessee (4-1) on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Central in Austin. The game will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1 and broadcast on the Longhorn IMG Radio Network (103.1 FM iHeart Austin).
• Series info: Tennessee leads the all-time series with Texas, 23-12. This is the 33rd consecutive season the Longhorns and Lady Vols will meet. The last Texas victory in the series was a 73-59 win on Dec. 14, 2008 in Austin. When both teams are ranked in the AP Top 10, the Longhorns hold a 7-3 advantage, including wins in the last three top-10 Texas-Tennessee matchups.
• Last time out: Texas defeated UT-Pan American on Wednesday, 72-45, led by 20 points from sophomore center Kelsey Lang. Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday at Chattanooga, 67-63.
• Lang stepping up: Sophomore center Kelsey Lang leads Texas in scoring (14.5 ppg), shooting percentage (60.9 FG%) and minutes (30.8 mpg). Lang has reached double-figure points in all four games, including a career-high 20 points (10-13 FG) against UTPA on Wednesday. Her .769 shooting percentage from the field against the Broncs is the 12th-highest in program history.
• Burnt Orange paint: Texas is out-scoring its opponents 138-80 in the paint through four games. The Longhorns have an average scoring margin in the paint of +14.5 points.
• Dominating the boards: Texas features a rebounding margin of +17.3 through four games. On Wednesday Texas out-rebounded UT-Pan American 59-to-27 with 25 offensive rebounds and 23 second-chance points.
• NCAA Team of the Week: NCAA.com named the Longhorns as the Women's Basketball Team of the Week after starting the season 3-0, including an 87-81 overtime victory at No. 6/1 Stanford (Nov. 20). Texas' win at Stanford broke a 28-game home winning streak for the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion and came days after Stanford was voted No. 1 in the USA TODAY Coaches' poll.
• Texas sweeps Big 12 weekly honors: Senior forward Nneka Enemkpali was named Big 12 Player of the Week and freshman guard Ariel Atkins was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week on Monday. Enemkpali averaged 14.0 points on 58 percent shooting and 8.5 rebounds in Texas' wins at No. 6/1 Stanford and UCLA. Atkins averaged 15 points and 3.5 rebounds last week, including 16 points in UT's overtime victory at Stanford.
• Atkins at the line: Freshman guard Ariel Atkins made the first 14 free throws of her collegiate career and is shooting 90 percent on the season (18-20 FT). The Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year has started all four games, averaging 10.5 points per game.
• McCarty's breakout performance: Freshman guard Brooke McCarty came off the bench to lead Texas to a 75-65 win at UCLA, scoring 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. It was the first 20-point game from a UT guard since Feb. 20, 2013 (Chassidy Fussell 26 points vs. Kansas).
• Big 12 favorites: The Longhorns were selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2014-15 Big 12 regular season title in a preseason vote of the league's head coaches. UT was also picked at the top of the preseason rankings in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
• Injury update: Junior center Imani McGee-Stafford (leg) is not cleared to participate on Sunday. Freshman forward Diani Akigbogun (knee) and sophomore forward Nekia Jones (illness) were cleared prior to Wednesday's game against UT-Pan American.
• Next up: Texas continues a six-game home stand against New Mexico on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. Central (Longhorn Network).
