The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
21-10
Oklahoma
18-14
Women's Basketball pushes past Oklahoma in the second half, 82-72
03.08.2014 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns advance to the Big 12 Championship semifinals for the first time since 2008.
Box Score (PDF) | Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery
VIDEO: Highlights | Postgame Press Conference
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Texas Women's Basketball opened postseason play with a commanding 10-point victory over Oklahoma, 82-72, on Saturday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena. With the win, Texas advances to the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship for the first time since 2008. The Longhorns (21-10) will face No. 7/8 West Virginia on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Central.
Three Longhorns finished with double-figure points, led by senior Chassidy Fussell's 16 on 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Sophomore Imani McGee-Stafford finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes, while junior Nneka Enemkpali recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Oklahoma (18-14) held a seven-point advantage at the break, 41-35, after knocking down eight 3-pointers in the first half. The Longhorns opened up the second half on a 12-2 run to take the lead for good.
Texas out-scored Oklahoma in the second half, 47-31. The Longhorns shot 54 percent (13-24 FG) from the field after the break, while holding Oklahoma to a cool 24 percent (9-37 FG).
Texas won the tip to start the game and immediately went inside to McGee-Stafford for the easy score. The Sooners countered with a three, but two free throws by sophomore Brady Sanders put the Longhorns back in front. Back-and-forth play continued for most of the first half, resulting in five ties and 11 lead changes in the first 20 minutes.
Senior GiGi Mazionyte checked in at the 14:44 mark and immediately made an impact, sinking Texas' first 3-pointer at the 14:29 mark. Mazionyte's shot broke an 8-8 tie and started a 7-3 Texas run over the next five minutes. During that time, the Longhorns prevented Oklahoma from scoring a field goal, but the Sooners converted six free throws to cut Texas' lead to two, 20-18.
Over the next seven minutes, there were five lead changes with both Texas and Oklahoma leading by as many as five points. Texas cut Oklahoma's lead to one with 45 seconds remaining, but two free throws by Aaryn Ellenberg and a last second three T'ona Edwards gave the Sooners their largest lead of the game, 41-35, heading into halftime.
Texas started the second half on a 12-3 run over the first 2:26 minutes to regain control at 47-43. Over the next four minutes, Texas outscored the Sooners 9-3 to lead by 10, 54-46. At the 11:27 mark of the second half, Texas was shooting 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the floor and had converted 3-of-4 from beyond-the-arc.
The Sooners came within six points, 57-63 with 5:31 left in the contest, but Texas put together a 13-3 run to gain a 16-point advantage -- their largest of the night -- with 1:51 remaining. Over the final 56 seconds, Texas connected 5-of-8 final free throws to seal the 82-72 win.
Oklahoma finished with four players in double figures, led by Ellenberg's 21 points on of 7-of-19 shooting.
Texas' semifinal game with West Virginia is scheduled to tip off at 4:30 p.m. Central on FOX Sports 1.
• Series: Texas improves its lead in the all-time series with Oklahoma, 25-22. When facing the Sooners, the Longhorns are 2-1 this season and 3-2 in Big 12 Championship games.
• Big 12 Championship Win: Texas earned its first Big 12 Championship win since defeating Missouri in first round of the 2011 conference tournament. The Longhorns advance to their seventh appearance in the Big 12 Championship semifinals. Texas will make its first Big 12 semifinals appearance since 2008 on Sunday.
• Longest Winning Streak: Texas' current four-game winning streak is the Longest of the season. UT has five winning streaks of three games or more this season.
• Big 12 Championship W-L Records: In the Big 12 Championship, Texas is… 19-16 overall … 16-7 as a higher seed … 7-7 in the quarterfinals … 1-0 as the No. 3 seed … 2-2 in Oklahoma City … 1-1 under Karen Aston.
• More Points, More Wins: Texas is 10-1 when scoring 70 points or more, including a 7-0 mark when scoring 80 points or more. UT's only loss in a 70-point game came at No. 9/7 Baylor on Feb. 1.
• Erasing a Halftime Deficit: For the second time this season, Texas overcame an Oklahoma halftime lead to win. On Saturday, Texas overcame a six-point halftime deficit (41-35) by beginning the second half on a 7-0 run and eventually winning, 82-72. On Jan. 8, Texas trailed by 12 points at halftime against Oklahoma in Austin (38-26), only to comeback and win, 79-74 in overtime.
• 3-point High: Texas tied a season-high 10 3-point field goals, spread among seven different Longhorns with at least one trey. UT has never featured as much as seven players with a 3-pointer in one game since (at least) the 2004-05 season. UT has made 10 3-pointers in three games this season -- Northwestern State (Dec. 20), at Kansas (Jan. 28) and against Oklahoma (March 8).
• Second-Half Points: For the fourth time this season, Texas scored over 45 points in the second half. UT out-scored OU in the second half, 47-31. The other three games with 45+ second-half points came against non-conference opponents -- Texas State (48), Sam Houston State (59) and Idaho (47). Texas held Oklahoma to two field goals and just five points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
• Another Lead Change: Saturday's game featured 14 lead changes, including 11 in the first half. Just two other Texas games this season feature 14 or more lead changes -- at West Virginia (16) and at Texas Tech (14).
• Starters: For the sixth time this season Texas used the starting lineup of sophomore guard Celina Rodrigo, senior guard Chassidy Fussell, sophomore guard Brady Sanders, junior forward Nneka Enemkpali and sophomore center Imani McGee-Stafford. Texas is 3-3 with this lineup.
Nneka Enemkpali
• Recorded a game-high 13 rebounds with 10 points (4-11 FG, 2-3 FT) for her eighth double-double of the season and 21st of her career. Added two blocked shots in 25 minutes.
Imani McGee-Stafford
• Scored 15 points (5-9 FG, 5-6 FT), including 11 in the second half, with seven rebounds and a game-high four blocks in just 21 minutes.
• Is averaging 17.4 points and 10.4 rebounds over the last five games.
Chassidy Fussell
• Scored a team-high 16 points (6-7 FT) with four rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes.
Celina Rodrigo
• Delivered a team-high five assists with just one turnover.
• Scored eight points (2-4 FG, 2-3 3FG) in 28 minutes.
Nekia Jones
• Recorded a season-high three steals in just 13 minutes.
• Made one 3-pointer to finish with three points on Saturday. She has made at least one trey in seven of the last eight games.
KAREN ASTON: Extremely, extremely proud of our basketball team for a lot of reasons. First of all, we haven't won a tournament game in a while, so that was our first goal of the week was to win a tournament game, and we did that tonight, and really, really proud of our composure. I thought that at halftime they really reset themselves, which is a sign of a team that's beginning to have terrific chemistry and growing up. By the time our coaches got in there, they knew exactly what they needed to do, and really all we talked about was slowing down. We were playing way too fast in the first half, and I thought the beginning of the second half was probably the difference in the game because it gave our team some confidence, and we took it from there and really played solid defense, I thought, the entire second half.
Q. With about six-and-a-half, Chass, how big of a shot was that at the time?
CHASSIDY FUSSELL: It was a really big shot just to give us the lift. We were in a drought really. Karen called the play, and we just executed it really well, and Nekia set a really great screen, and I hit the shot.
Q. Ladies, how does it feel to come in here and get this first victory against a rival team like Oklahoma?
IMANI McGEE-STAFFORD: I've never won a Big 12 Tournament game. Last time I was here we lost, so it feels great because it's a new experience, and on top of that, it's OU, so it's great. Like before the game, OU fans were posing in our pictures with the horns upside down, so it's a real rivalry, and I think I finally feel it because I'm not from Texas. It's great to win against a rival, and we've just got to win again tomorrow now.
Q. Nneka, coach said you guys huddled at halftime before the coaches got there. What in particular was said between you guys?
NNEKA ENEMKPALI: It was a refocusing for us. We've been in that position before when we played them at home. I believe we were down about 12, and we just needed to come together and realize that if we play our game defensively, offense will come, and eventually things will be put together and we'll come out with the win.
Q. You guys played really good defense. You held them to 30 percent shooting on the night, especially Ellenberg. What did you do to keep her so busy all night?
CHASSIDY FUSSELL: In the first half they came out 50 percent from the three-point line, so really it's another thing we talked about at halftime was just playing defense and getting back to our character and what we're about.
Q. Coach, you split with West Virginia in the regular season. What is it going to take for you guys to come out victorious tomorrow?
KAREN ASTON: Well, first of all, we need to get back to the hotel and get our legs in some ice and get prepared for a really, really good basketball team. When you play West Virginia you know first of all that they're going to play terrific defense and you have to match their competitiveness defensively and on the boards, and I think that it has been two really good games against them just like it was against Oklahoma, so I expect it to be competitive. But it's a quick turnaround for us, so it'll take some real focus on our team's part, but they're really, really good.
Q. Were there any adjustments made as far as Oklahoma making all the three-pointers in the first half? Did you say anything, do anything in the second half?
KAREN ASTON: We made a few adjustments during the second half. We switched some screens which we didn't do much of in the first half. But I really thought it was our attention to detail a little bit better, specifically at the 4 position. I thought Kornet -- well, not just Kornet, but Sharane Campbell both hurt us in the first half at the 4 position hitting the threes, and we really needed to pay a little bit more attention at that position. But I thought that we also learned a little bit from our loss at Oklahoma because we were in some of the same situations, late-game situations, where defensively we didn't do a good job at Oklahoma. We didn't hedge, we didn't switch when we needed to. So I thought that our team probably learned from that experience and made sure that they made the adjustments necessary.
Q. Not really from an Xs and Os standpoint, but just you guys came out strong, quick, scored points fast in the second half, and before OU knew what was going on their five-point lead was now a deficit. Did you tell them to come out that fast? Was that a focus, to start fast? I know you want to score every trip down, but it seemed like they weren't matching your intensity coming out of the half.
KAREN ASTON: The only thing we talked about was winning the first four-minute game because I think every coach talks about four-minute games and trying to win them, but we focus a lot on winning the possession game, and the last two four-minute games of the first half, we lost both of those, so we really didn't talk about anything other than this is one four-minute game and we need to win it, and not getting past that first four-minute game, and I thought they really focused on that and executed some things really well early in the second half. I thought our bench was really good today, too. Everybody that went in the game gave something, and it's really what our team is all about. We don't have a superstar really, so it was a team effort.
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