The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 3/3 Women’s Basketball perseveres to 67-65 win over No. 4/5 Texas A&M
12.21.2014 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns overcome 11-point deficit to improve to 10-0 this season, including a 3-0 mark against top-10 teams.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Junior guard Empress Davenport made a layup with 4.2 second remaining to lift No. 3/3 Texas Women's Basketball past No. 4/5 Texas A&M on Sunday, 67-65, in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at Verizon Arena.
The Longhorns (10-0) overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to notch their fourth consecutive win over the Aggies (11-1) and third win over a top-5 opponent this season. Texas previously defeated No. 6/1 Stanford (Nov. 20) and No. 4/5 Tennessee (Nov. 30).
"I just thought our team was really resilient," said Head Coach Aston, who improves to 2-0 against A&M. "You always find out your character of your team, your personality, when you get into situations like we were today when we were down, which we haven't been a whole lot this year."
Senior forward Nneka Enemkpali recorded her fourth consecutive double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes of action. Davenport scored all of her seven points in the second half on 2-of-3 shooting.
Sophomore center Kelsey Lang scored UT's first eight points to lead the Longhorns to an early 10-6 lead. Lang finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes.
Texas A&M rallied for a 32-31 lead at the break to give UT its first halftime deficit of the season, and led by as many as 11 early in the second half. The Longhorns applied full-court press in the second half, and regained the lead at 62-61 after Davenport's free throw with 4:14 remaining. The lead was UT's first since the 8:07 mark of the first half.
"I think we had to push the tempo since we were down by a lot," Davenport said. "We've never been down by that much during the season, I don't think, and we were just trying to press. Anything to speed them up."
The rivals traded baskets to a 65-65 tie before Davenport added to her list of clutch performances this season with the go-ahead basket with four seconds remaining in the game. Davenport also made a last-second layup to force overtime at No. 6/1 Stanford in November.
The undefeated Longhorns return to Austin to conclude their non-conference schedule against Rice on Tuesday, Dec. 30 (Longhorn Network).
