The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
5-0
Tennessee
4-2
No. 6/9 Women’s Basketball topples No. 4/5 Tennessee, 72-59
11.30.2014 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns improve to 5-0 after second win over a top-10 team this season.
Box Score (PDF) | Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Kelsey Lang scored 18 points and No. 6/9 Texas continued its torrid start with a 72-59 win over No. 4/5 Tennessee on Sunday night, snapping a five-game losing streak in the rivalry.
The victory was another important step in Texas coach Karen Aston's mission to return the Longhorns to the nation's elite programs. Once a women's basketball powerhouse, Texas has struggled to be a factor nationally or in the Big 12 over the last decade.
But Texas started this season ranked in the Top 10 and backed it up with an impressive victory at then No. 6-Stanford. Handily beating Tennessee will further expectations of a big season in Aston's third year in Austin.
Texas (5-0) had four players score in double figures and shot 62 percent in the second half.
Bashaara Graves scored 15 points for Tennessee (4-2), which has lost two in a row.
Sunday's matchup is the latest in a 36-year-old rivalry that began when Tennessee's Pat Summitt and Texas' Jody Conradt were building their schools into national powers. Summitt visited Austin when a statue of Conradt was dedicated in 2012. Conradt made the trip to Knoxville last year for the dedication of a statue in Summitt's honor.
The Lady Vols had dominated the series in recent years, winning eight of the previous nine meetings, but Texas controlled everything Sunday night.
Nneka Enemkpali scored 17 points for Texas. Ariel Atkins scored 12 and Brianna Taylor scored 10 on 5-of-5 shooting. Together, Enemkpali, Lang and Taylor went 20 of 26.
Texas led 30-20 at halftime behind 12 points from Lang, who had no trouble establishing position under the Lady Vols basket. Tennessee center Nia Moore, the Lady Vols' leading scorer through the first four games, started but played just five minutes the entire game and no points or rebounds.
Lang was 5-of-7 shooting in the first half. Tennessee was just 7 of 29 as a team.
Texas kept up the pressure in the second half, never letting the Lady Vols make a game of it. Tennessee's Jasmine Jones briefly cut the Texas lead under 10 with the first basket of the second half but Texas quickly regained control when Celina Rodrigo buried a 3-pointer.
The Longhorns pushed the lead back to 15 when Enemkpali made consecutive baskets that made it 50-35 with 12:50 to play. Tennessee cut the Texas lead under 10 with just under four minutes to play, but a put-back by an unguarded Enemkpali turned momentum back to the Longhorns.
Texas continues its six-game home stand on Wednesday against New Mexico at 7 p.m. Central. The game will be televised nationally on Longhorn Network.
• Series: Texas is now 13-23 in the all-time series against Tennessee, snapping the Lady Vols' five-game win streak between the powerhouse programs. The last win for the Longhorns was on Dec. 14, 2008 in Austin, winning, 73-59.
• 5-and-0: The Longhorns improve to 5-0, their second 5-0 start under third-year Coach Karen Aston and first since the 2012-13 season.
• Knocking off two top-10 teams: Texas has beaten two top-10 teams through five games this season (also defeated No. 6/1 Stanford on Nov. 20). It is the first time UT has notched victories against two top-10 opponents since the 2008-09 season when the Longhorns defeated No. 7/10 Tennessee and No. 4/3 Baylor. It is the first time defeating two top-10 nonconference opponents since the 2003-04 campaign, knocking off No. 2/2 Tennessee and No. 10/9 Georgia.
• Big D: The defense held Tennessee to a .241 shooting percentage (7-29 FG) and didn't allow a field goal for over six minutes (between 11:10-5:02) in the first half.
• Double-figures: Texas had four players score in double digits (Atkins, Enemkpali, Lang, Taylor) for the fourth time this season. Texas has had at least three players with 10+ points in every game this season.
• Sharp shooters: Texas shot 61.5 percent (16-of-26) in the second half and finished the game shooting a season-high 49.2 percent. Texas is 4-0 when shooting 40 percent or better.
Nneka Enemkpali (Senior, F)
• Recorded double-digit points (17 points) for the third time this season and 45th time in her career
• Shot 7-of-10 tonight and is shooting 61.0 percent (25-of-41) from the field this season
• Recorded three blocks tonight and is averaging 4.0 blocks over the last two games.
Kelsey Lang (Sophomore, C)
• Has recorded double-digit points (18 points tonight) in every game this season (5 games) and 10 times in her career.
• Shot 72.7 percent from the field (8-of-11) and is averaging 15.2 points per game on .631 field goal percentage this season
• Had 10 points and three boards at the half
• Led the team in scoring for the third time this season and led the team in rebounds for the second time this season
Ariel Atkins (Freshman, G)
• Recorded double-digit points (12 points on 5-of-9 shooting) for the third time this season
Brianna Taylor (Sophomore, G)
• Recorded double-digit points (10 points) for the second time this season and second in her career
Celina Rodrigo (Junior, G)
• Played in her 68th consecutive game, which includes every UT game since the start of the 2012-13 season.
Head Coach Karen Aston
Opening Statement: I thought this was a really tremendous effort from our basketball team. There were times where we probably could have executed better or done some things differently, but I just can't really say enough about the effort and the preparations of our team -- especially with this young players that we're throwing into the mix that haven't really been in this situation before. I thought we were going to play well today, I didn't knew if we would win, but I knew we were going to play well because I knew we prepared really well. I think our inside game was terrific, they battled really hard and did their work early, they did the things it takes to make their presence felt. I'm really proud of our team.
On how big is it to have two top-10 wins this early in the season: I think it's really big from a confidence standpoint. We have players that have never been in this situation before because they are young or players that are older that have not had this significant wins before. From a confidence perspective, it's unbelievable. Now we have a long way to go. We understand that everything we do right now, prepares us for Big 12 play. It's a huge confidence boost to our team.
On if the strength of the team is having many player capable of stepping up anytime:
I would agree with that, completely. One thing that we were able to do because of getting some healthy bodies back is having the opportunity to move Brianna Taylor back to the guard position. That's obviously where she's going to have most of the opportunities in her career, and she's been selfless enough to play wherever we need her. Today, quite honestly, the people that could defend were the ones that had to get the most minutes because they were so big in the perimeter and they started just attacking us on the drive. We had to go with lineups that could defend a little better.
On the difference between the Kelsey Lang, last season and this season: Confidence. There is no question in that. That comes from work. Kelsey put in a lot of work in the offseason to put herself in better physical condition. All our players did. When you think that you're in really great shape, stronger, faster, that's going to build your confidence. That is mental toughness because of the work she has put up. All of our players are. I think that scoring is a mind-set for a post player. They have to be determined that they are going to outwork their opponent, they are going to get their shot and get in position to get their shot. That has become a work in progress with her because when I watched her in high school, she was doubled and tripled, all she did was throw the ball back out most of the time, and it didn't matter that she was a scoring threat because she got tripled most of the time, so her habit was to just throw it back out. We kind of had to change her habit and her mindset. And I will say this, I think the combination of those two have been very effective right now because she's gaining a lot of attention, being doubled, and Kelsey is proving herself now.
Nneka Enemkpali (Senior, F)
On how it feels to defeat Tennessee as a senior: It feels amazing. The preparation that this team put into coming to this game tonight was good. We paid attention to detail and focused on what we needed to focus on and just the fact that every position we have an answer. It's really fun to play with these girls, they are unselfish and move the ball around. It was really fun tonight.
On early-season success: It is a confidence booster. I don't know who wouldn't want to start their season off the way we started our season off but I feel like we have to remain humble and remember that this is just the beginning that we still have a long way to go.
On the difference in the team over the last year: The biggest difference would have to be how much balance we have. We finally have a team that has an offensive threat on the interior and also on the exterior. The motors that we have, like Brianna (Taylor), are able to play the three spot and the four spot. She gives us a different look whenever she is in the game. Nekia can also stress the defense out when she comes in the game. We have a total package all around.
Kelsey Lang (Sophomore, C)
On her overall progress and her performance tonight: Ever since we found out that Imani (McGee-Stafford) was going to be out for the first part of the season I had to completely change my mind set into being an offensive threat and my teammates and coaches have helped me so much that I have gained so much confidence because they have confidence in me and I couldn't do what I do without my teammates giving me the kinds of passes that they have been giving me. They are the reason I have so much confidence in my offensive ability.
Brianna Taylor (Sophomore, G)
On coming into every game with spark: I think I'm just trying to do my part by coming off the bench and giving us energy and rebounding and helping Nneka down in the paint. I'm just trying to do what coach is asking of me and coming in and staying solid and getting stops on defense so I'm learning.
On whether the team has the makings of a total package: Yes, most definitely. With our guards being able to play multiple positions this has really helped out stretching the defense and being able to take different looks.
TENNESSEE QUOTES
Head Coach Holly Warlick
Opening thoughts: Got out-worked, got out-played. Gave up too many transition points, gave up too many second-chance points and shot poorly from the free-throw line. First half, we were quick shooting the basketball. Our plan was to make them have to defend and we didn't do that the first half. We settled down and did that a little bit in the second half, but you dig yourself in a hole, and then you've got to get stops. The game is about defense and rebounding. We can't seem to grasp the importance of defense. It's going to probably take getting our butts beat to realize the importance of getting down and playing in a stance. You can't play defend somebody when you play them straight up and we seem to think we can do that. We just have to go back and work and figure out how we can defend people because if we do, we have to figure out something to keep us in the game.
On what impressed her the most about Texas: I think they play hard, my hats off to them. They have been on tough road games and won. We come in here and they just play hard. I thought they competed. They made plays when they had to. They are just playing real well together. Their inside game is really good and we didn't have an answer for that. They competly outplayed us, so my hats off to them. They are a very good basketball team
On the challenge of playing without Imani McGee-Stafford: Kelsey Lang did what she was supposed to do. She kept the ball high and we didn't have an answer for her. We couldn't get up and deflect any shots. She played an exceptional game. She took advantage of nobody guarding her at her height level. I think both posts stuck with the game plan and they did what they've been doing. We gave up too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points. You just can't win the game that way.
On if Texas beat them with balance: Texas beat us because they're playing really well as a team and they play really hard. They're doing the right things right now and they're winning, so whatever they're doing, they need to keep going with it.
Bashaara Graves (Junior, F)
On how difficult was it to overcome poor shooting in the first half: I think it pushed us back a lot. We tried to get it back with our defense but I guess that wasn't working either. We just tried to push through. We knew we were missing shots but we just had to keep going to the boards and keeping pushing through.
On how Texas is different since playing them last year: I think they're the same team. They have a lot more heart than they did last year. They came out real strong and I didn't see that last year. They are the same team from a rebounding perspective, and that is what we got hurt on.
Jordan Reynolds (Sophomore, G)
On what Texas did in the second half to make it difficult to get defensive stops: They were doing the same thing they were doing in the first half, making open shots and getting it inside the paint. They had a lot of paint points, I believe. We were just trading baskets in the beginning of the second half. We weren't getting any stops.
On if they can generate enough offense just playing a half-court game: Coach Warlick is making our identity as an up-tempo type game and team. When we press, we need to get baskets out of it and it needs to be all out and it just really wasn't today but we're working on that. We are really working on our full-court press because it's brand new this year, our run-and-jump. It'll get better over these next few games.
On if Texas is legit: Yeah they are. They have very athletic guards and posts. They were doing a great job today. They played with size and depth. I think they are legit, as you said, this year.
