The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
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Kansas *
No. rv/23 Women's Basketball defeats Kansas, 74-63
02.14.2015 | Women's Basketball
Four Longhorns reach double-figure points in first Big 12 road win of the season.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Four Longhorns scored in double-figures to elevate No. rv/23 Texas Women's Basketball over Kansas, 74-63, on Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Sophomore guard Brianna Taylor and freshman Ariel Atkins led Texas (16-8, 5-8 Big 12) with a combined 30 points and 13 rebounds. Atkins accounted for over half of Texas' first half points (15), while Taylor kept Texas afloat in the second half with 13 points.
Juniors Brady Sanders and Imani McGee-Stafford added 11 and 12 points, respectively. McGee-Stafford recorded her third double-double with 16 rebounds on the night.
The Longhorns dominated the boards as they out-rebounded Kansas 50-27.
Texas' defense started the game in full force, causing an early 5:02 scoring drought for the Jayhawks. As the half progressed, the battled for the lead, but a late 6-4 run by the Longhorns put them up by one point going into the locker room. Texas' up-tempo first-half defense held Kansas to just 28 percent shooting from the field.
Taylor came out hot and scored five points in the first five minutes of the second half. A 3-pointer by Sanders fueled a Texas 13-2 run that put Texas up by seven, 47-40, with 10:54 left in regulation. The Jayhawks came back to cut the deficit to three, but the Horns never allowed Kansas to close the gap and held their lead through the end of the game, securing the first Big 12 road win of the season.
Kansas (13-13, 4-9 Big 12) was led by Asia Boyd and Chelsea Gardner who each recorded 16 points and 7 rebounds. Natalie Knight added 11 points to reach 1,000 career points.
The Longhorns return home to host Kansas State on Wednesday (7 p.m. Central, Longhorn Network) in the annual Horns for Hope: Shoot for a Cure "pink" game.
• Saturday's win marks UT's first Big 12 road win of the season (1-6) and first Big 12 series sweep of the regular season.
• Texas has won five consecutive games against Kansas and leads the all-time series with the Jayhawks, 19-10. Coach Karen Aston is 5-1 against KU.
• UT's +23 rebounding margin (50-27) is the third-largest of the season and the largest during Big 12 play.
• The Horns grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second-chance points to KU's two second-chance points.
• Texas improves to 11-0 this season when scoring 70 points or more.
• Texas made a season-high 22 free throws (22-30 FT). On the season, UT is shooting 68 percent, but in the last five games the Longhorns are shooting 78 percent from the charity stripe (61-78 FT).
Ariel Atkins (Freshman, G)
• Scored 15 points with six rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes.
• Shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
• All of her 15 points were scored in the first half.
Brianna Taylor (Sophomore, G)
• Made her third start of the season and first start since Jan. 25 (at Iowa State).
• Scored 13 of her career-high 15 points in the second half.
• Played in a career-high 30 minutes.
Imani McGee-Stafford (Junior, C)
• Came off the bench to score 12 points with a season-high 16 rebounds and four blocks in just 23 minutes.
• Notched her third double-double this season and 22nd of her career.
Diani Akigbogun (Freshman, F)
• First Big 12 game she has played in.
• Scored two points in one minute of action.
Brady Sanders (Junior, G)
• Came one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 11 points with nine rebounds. It would have been the first double-double from a UT guard since Feb. 18, 2012 (Chassidy Fussell).
• Made three 3-point field goals, her second-most this season.
• Led UT with four assists on Saturday night. In the last five games, Sanders is averaging 5.2 assists per game.
Celina Rodrigo (Junior, G)
• Did not play for the first time in her career, ending a streak of 87 consecutive games played. The 87-game streak started on Nov. 9, 2012 against St. John's.
