The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
17-8, 6-8
Kansas State *
15-10, 5-9
Sanders leads No. rv/25 Women’s Basketball past K-State, 76-58
02.18.2015 | Women's Basketball
Junior guard Brady Sanders scores a career-high 18 points in the Longhorns’ 13th home victory.
Box Score | Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery
AUSTIN, Texas -- Brady Sanders posted a career-high 18 points and three other players reached double figures as No. rv/25 Texas Women's Basketball defeated Kansas State, 76-58, at the Erwin Center on Wednesday night.
Freshman guard Ariel Atkins, junior center Imani McGee-Stafford and freshman guard Brooke McCarty added 11 points each for the Longhorns (17-8, 6-8 Big 12). McCarty scored all of her points in the second half on 4-of-6 shooting. Sanders, who posted a game-high six rebounds, shot 5-of-11 from the field, including a career-high tying 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
The Longhorns shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the field, including 53.6 percent in the second half, and held a 36-25 rebounding advantage over the Wildcats (15-10, 5-9 Big 12).
Defensively, Texas forced 19 turnovers and outscored the Wildcats 21-4 in points off turnovers.
The Longhorns recorded their largest margin of victory against a conference opponent since winning 88-51 vs. Texas Tech on Feb. 5, 2014.
Despite trailing 9-2 and missing its first eight shots, Texas used three 3-pointers, including two from Sanders, to spark a 10-0 run and force a Kansas State timeout with 12 minutes remaining in the opening period. The Horns would not trail the rest of the night.
Sanders continued her hot streak from deep, sinking two more back-to-back treys to take a 22-16 lead, which forced another Wildcats timeout. In just over 12 minutes, the junior guard had already matched her career high in 3-pointers with four.
During the last two minutes of the half, Texas used four free throws to take a 36-25 advantage into the locker room, the largest lead in a half, since opening 37-24 at Iowa State on Jan. 10.
In the opening half, Sanders led the Horns with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep, while Atkins chipped in nine points.
Texas outscored the Wildcats, 11-2, in second chance points, thanks to a 21-11 advantage on the glass, including 10 offensive rebounds.
Coming out of the break, Kansas State would cut it its deficit to seven, before the Longhorns would respond with an 11-2 run to build a comfortable 47-31 lead.
From there, Texas would not relinquish its double-digit lead and would lead by as much as 20 (62-42) with 8:32 remaining.
Haley Texada paced the Wildcats with 17 points, including 4-of-7 from deep.
Texas travels to Lubbock, Texas to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Central and will be televised on TTU TV on FOX.
• Texas improves to 13-2 at home and to 12-0 when scoring 70 points or more this season.
• The Longhorns lead the all-time series with K-State, 16-14, including a 10-3 mark in Austin.
• With six 3-point field goals tonight, Texas has made at least five 3-pointers in the last four games. During that four-game stretch Texas is shooting 40.7 percent from beyond the arc (24-59 3FG).
• Four Longhorns scored in double-figures on Wednesday. Texas has had four players reach double-digits in the last three out of four games.
• Texas out-rebounded K-State, 36-25 (+11). UT's rebounding margin in the last two games is +34 (86-52). Texas has out-rebounded 24-of-25 opponents this season.
• UT's seven-point comeback in the first half marks third time this season in which the Longhorns have overcome a deficit of seven points or more and went on to win. Texas trailed by seven at the 15:31 mark of the first half on Wednesday. UT also overcame a nine-point deficit against Oklahoma (Jan. 29) and a 11-point deficit against Texas A&M (Dec. 21).
• Texas forced 19 K-State turnovers and scored 21 points off turnovers.
Brady Sanders (Junior, G)
• Scored a career-high 18 points (5-11 FG, 4-8 3FG) with six rebounds. Her points and rebounds totals were both team highs on Wednesday.
• Tied a career-high four 3-point field goals. All four were made in the first half.
Imani McGee-Stafford (Junior, C)
• Finished with 11 points (4-8 FG) and five rebounds in 16 minutes.
• Reached double-figure points for the sixth time in seven games.
Brooke McCarty (Freshman, G)
• Scored 11 points (4-6 FG) with two rebounds and two steals in just 17 minutes.
Empress Davenport (Junior, G)
• Recorded a season-high six assists.
Texas Head Coach Karen Aston
Opening statement: It was obviously a better performance than when we were in Manhattan. Give credit to our team because they've been working really, really hard in practice on some specific things against a zone. I thought that we made quite a bit of an improvement in that area, just ball reversal, looking for the open shot, not being hesitant to shoot, flattening it out and getting it inside at the right time. There were lots of really good decisions and a lot of contributions. I thought everybody who went in the game, contributed to something, so overall a really good team performance. We were better defensively. I said it out there on the radio, I thought Brady [Sanders] got us off to a terrific start and really calmed our team. Then we settled in and played a really nice game, I thought.
On playing with a pace that Kansas State couldn't keep up with: I think that we're growing up. It's been some tough stretches where players just try to figure out what their role on the team needed to be. Their roles changed so much during the year that it was hard for them to get their feet on the ground at certain times. I do think that we've had some consistency with lineups, rotations, and what we're asking each person to do, so I think that gives them some comfort to know that there's some specific things that now they understand what they bring to the table for our team. It's allowed them to settle in and I will say that it just may be expression from them that they wanted to relax. Sometimes you have to listen to your players, and I think they're having some fun right now, and it's good to see.
On if the team has been forced to grow up: I think so. You see some players that are young. They were thrown into the fire just a little bit and being asked to do some things that they weren't necessarily prepared for. Then you look at, for example, Brady [Sanders] and Empress [Davenport] and the entire junior class, including Krystle [Henderson] in that had to take some collective ownership of our leadership and really just change their mindsets a little bit. I think they've done a really good job of that.
On what this win does for the confidence going into the final stretch of Big 12 games: I think we look like a much more confident bunch right now. We're shooting the ball better, timing offensively because everybody has settled into specific roles. We just look more comfortable what we're doing and I do think we have our feet on the ground enough that we can actually get back to a little bit of pressing, and as you mentioned before, the tempo has picked up for us a little bit. Again that was a collective decision that we all had to go rebound. There are a lot of things that have played into it, but I do think they're confident. It's one game at a time. We worried about tonight, and tomorrow, we'll wake up and start figuring out how to win in Lubbock. We don't need to look past that at all. We just need to take one game at a time and finish it strong as we possibly can. I think every game is winnable. We know that. Tech lost by seven against Baylor tonight. It's a competitive league. I've said this over and over that I think our league is being disrespected. When you're number one in RPI, and every team in your league has a winning record, there's something good that everybody is doing and I just think that we're getting slighted just a little bit.
Junior guard Brady Sanders
On her play tonight in the first half: I prepared the same way for this game, and really my only focus was getting this win. It just so happened my shots fell tonight and my teammates put me in a good position to score. My shot just finally felt like it should and I've been putting a lot of extra shooting workouts and that sort of thing, so it's nice to finally have some go in and it feel right. All the credit goes to my teammates because they got me the ball in good positions.
On if she needed to shoot more after UT's slow offensive start: I try not to panic. There's times where you can start out horrible and things take a turn for the better. We just all did a good job of staying calm and focused on what we had to do. We stuck with the plan and things started to work out.
KANSAS STATE
Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening Statement: I thought Texas played well. The first half I thought we got them to miss, but the player that made enough shots was [junior guard] Brady [Sanders]. She played very well first half. We felt okay with that number (38 percent), but we just didn't get them to turn it over enough, which we did in Manhattan. They played with a very good pace tonight. We never could get them hurried or too out of control, and their size is such a factor on the glass that it gives them some extra opportunities. Ultimately, the first half is what I thought stretched the lead out. I thought they got some extra chances and that is where Brady [Sanders] got a couple three's and we just couldn't get back out to her.
On if junior guard Brady Sanders surprised him: Surprised would be the wrong word. No, we know she can shoot the basketball. I guess she has been a little up and down statistically in that area, but she is a good shooter. I saw her play in high school a bunch and she is a really good player and competitor. So she did not surprise us. We were certainly aware of her. We just didn't do a good job after she made the first one of making an adjustment to get out to her quicker.
On junior center Imani McGee-Stafford: Well I thought both her and [Kelsey] Lang played well and they're not playing together like they were a couple weeks ago, but you can look at their line collectively, 20 points and nine boards for both of them. I think Imani [McGee-Stafford] is a huge factor—she had great hands and a great touch. You know defensively, she is just such a factor down there. I thought both of their centers played well. [Brooke] McCarty came back in the second half and played really well. We got her into foul trouble right away, which we felt fortunate to have her on the bench because she has been playing so well. They are a team that I think is healthier than they have been for a stretch, and now they are playing very well.
