The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
6-0
New Mexico
1-6
Balanced attack leads No. 4/4 Women’s Basketball past New Mexico, 86-37
12.03.2014 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns (6-0) defeat the Lobos by 49 points with stifling defense and balanced scoring.
Box Score (PDF) | Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- New Mexico coach Yvonne Sanchez has seen some things as she ushered her team through a difficult non-conference schedule.
Just nothing like Texas.
The fourth-ranked Longhorns (6-0) defeated the Lobos by 49 points on Wednesday night, 86-37.
New Mexico (1-6) has lost all four of its games against nationally ranked teams but was competitive against Texas A&M and Stanford, each ranked No. 5 at the time of the games.
Sanchez said Texas is at a different level.
"I told my team coming in, this is the best team they're gonna play this year, hands down," Sanchez said.
Junior guard Brady Sanders, making her first start of the season, scored 13 points to lead Texas.
Texas used a couple of devastating and prolonged runs to take a 50-12 halftime lead. The first push was 21-0; the second 14-0. New Mexico went scoreless for nearly six minutes during the Longhorns' first streak and nearly seven during the second.
Texas did most of its damage with a procession of shots from point-blank range, particularly during the 21-0 surge. The Longhorns made nine layups and one short jump shot in that stretch.
"It was a really, really, really outstanding performance in the first half," Aston said.
"Lots of contributions from pretty much everybody who came in the game. Our energy was great."
Twelve of the 13 Texas players who appeared in the game scored as the Longhorns improved to 6-0 to start a season for the first time since 2008-09.
Sophomore guard Brianna Taylor and freshman guard Brooke McCarty scored 11 points apiece for Texas, one more than freshman guard Tasia Foman's season-high 10 points. Senior forward Nneka Enemkpali led Texas in rebounds with 10. Freshman guard Ariel Atkins made four of the Longhorns' 15 steals.
Sanders said all that depth could be problematic for opponents.
"You never know who could be the leading scorer or leading rebounder," Sanders said. "I think it's probably hard for people to game-plan for us."
The Longhorns did most of their damage around the basket, outscoring New Mexico 44-14 in the paint.
Antiesha Brown led New Mexico with 13 points.
The Longhorns, loaded with quick guards and 6-foot-5 center Kelsey Lang, have become paint-ball wizards, dominating opponents in the lane. After Wednesday, Texas has outscored its opponents 44-24 per game in the paint.
"They have talent inside and out," Sanchez said. "They run people in and out."
The fourth-ranked Longhorns return to action on Monday at the Frank Erwin Center against Southern University at 11 a.m. Central (Longhorn Network). Centered around Monday's game is the fourth annual 40 Acres Field Trip, where Texas Athletics and the Frank Erwin Center open their doors to 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th graders in Central Texas for exposure to college athletics and a unique experience with higher education. Students and chaperones receive FREE tickets* to the Texas Women's Basketball game to visit the campus and be encouraged to pursue higher education.
• Series: Texas leads the all-time series with New Mexico, 5-3, after winning the last two meetings by scores of 67-52 last season in Albuquerque and 86-37 on Wednesday in Austin.
• First half domination: Texas led New Mexico by 38 points at the half, 50-12, and held the Lobos to 20.8 percent shooting from the field in the first half. Texas jumped out to a 25-3 lead, which included a 21-0 run. On the season, Texas is holding opponents to 22.1 points per first half, including 16.0 points per first half during home games.
• Balanced scoring: All 13 active Longhorns registered minutes on Wednesday, including 12 Longhorns scoring points. Texas had four players reach double figures in scoring (Sanders, McCarty, Taylor, Foman) for the fifth time this season. The Longhorns have had at least three players score in double figures in all six games this season.
• KA's 40th win at Texas: Wednesday marked Karen Aston's 40th victory as UT's head coach. In her third season on the Forty Acres, Aston holds a 40-30 (.571) record.
• 6-0: Texas becomes the 10th team in program history to begin the season with a perfect 6-0 record, marking the Longhorns' best start since the 2008-09 season.
• DEFENSE: The Texas defense held New Mexico to 28.9 shooting percent (13-45 FG) and forced 28 UNM turnovers. Wednesday's marked the 50th time in program history Texas has held its opponent to under 40 points in a game.
• Margin of victory: The Longhorns' 49-point victory on Wednesday is UT's largest scoring margin this season and the largest dating back to a 61-point victory over Sam Houston State last season, 109-48.
• Helping Hand: The Longhorns registered a season-high 21 assists on 34 field goals.
Head Coach Karen Aston
Opening statement: I thought it was a really, really outstanding performance in the first half. Lots of contributions from pretty much every player that came in the game. I thought our effort was really, really good. Our energy was great. Our defense was fairly connected. Just really good in transition and able to make good decisions in transition. It got a little raggedy at the end of the second half, but I think it was a good performance by our team.
On offensive execution: I think we are executing better with better decision making, slowing down a little bit, and making some layups that we have missed in previous games.
On energy and effort: I think it's been terrific. Everybody was connected defensively. I thought our help was great. There were very few times that we gave up uncontested shots or layups. I could nitpick and say our rebounding could have been better tonight, but I do think we did a great job of sharing the ball and I thought our defense was really good.
On a different starting lineup: I was concerned about how we would play today because of the day off on Monday so only one day to prepare for New Mexico and coming off of a big win and finals coming up. All that stuff kind of piled up together. I wasn't pleased with practice yesterday so I made the decision that we needed some maturity going into this game. I wanted to get off to a good start and be serious about this game. I went with the players that I thought maybe understand a little better. You have to know who you trust to get you off to a good start.
Brady Sanders (Junior, G)
On getting first start of the season: It's always an honor to start. Just being in the Texas uniform is something that is awesome to me, but being able to start is a great experience. Honestly, starting or not starting, I try to just do the little things and bring energy. Those are just the things I focus on.
On why this team is so improved: I think just the experience we gained last year. We had some difficult games last year that we overcame the adversity. Adding the freshmen who are really quick learners, it just adds to that. Just the depth this team has, you never know who is going to be the leading scorer or leading rebounder. It can be a different player every night. It can be difficult for teams to game plan for us because you never know who it can be.
Empress Davenport (Junior, G)
On if the team is gelling: I think so. It takes a team effort and we definitely got that tonight. I thought we would come out slow because of the practice we had yesterday, but like coach said, she went with maturity and we came out of the gates hard and just started fast.
On why this team is so improved: Experience. We've been with Coach Aston for three years now and I think we know the system pretty good and what she expects from us. I think it has a lot to do with experience.
NEW MEXICO
Head Coach Yvonne Sanchez
On Texas: I told our team coming in that this is the best team that we are going to face this year. Bottom line. We've played DePaul, Texas A&M, and Stanford. This is the best team and they held true. This is best team we've played all year. They're playing at a really, really high level right now. They just got talent inside and out. They have depth. I've watched these Texas teams play for a longtime under [former Texas Head Coach] Jody Conradt -- this is about as good as I've seen. This is a really, really good Texas team.
On the Texas depth: They run people in and out. They've got strength. They are just at a different level.
