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UConn
Women's Basketball preview: vs. No. 1/1 UConn - NCAA Regional Semifinal [March 28, 2015]
03.26.2015 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns face top-ranked UConn in the NCAA Championship round of 16.
NCAA Championship Regional Semifinal
Game 35: No. 5 Texas Longhorns (24-10) vs. No. 1 UConn Huskies (34-1)
Date/Time: Saturday, March 28 | 11 a.m. Central
Site: Albany, N.Y. | Times Union Center
TV: ESPN / WatchESPN - Dave O'Brien (play-by-play), Doris Burke (analyst), Holly Rowe (reporter)
Radio: KVET AM-1300 The Zone or TexasSports.com - Craig Way (play-by-play), Fran Harris (analyst)
Live Stats: NCAA.com
Tickets
Game Notes | Bracket | Albany Regional information
TEXAS IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
• Sweetness: Texas is making its 12th appearance in a Regional Semifinal (Sweet 16) on Saturday against Connecticut (11 a.m. Central, ESPN). It is the Longhorns' first appearance in the round of 16 since the 2003-04 season -- a team coached by then-assistant Karen Aston.
• 28th Dance: Texas is playing in the NCAA Championship for the 28th time, including the sixth time in the last seven seasons. The Longhorns' 28 appearances in the field ranks fourth all-time. Texas has appeared the NCAA Championship in 28 of 32 seasons since the it began in 1983. The Longhorns have advanced to the round of 32 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
• Seed No. 5: UT has a 5-3 record in four appearances as a No. 5 seed. Saturday marks Texas' first Regional Semifinal appearance as a No. 5 seed. The No. 5 seed is the third-winningest seed for UT (5-2), only trailing its success as a No. 1 seed (13-4) and a No. 2 seed (10-4).
• vs. No. 1 seed: Entering Saturday's game against No. 1-seed UConn, Texas is 2-8 against top seeds in the NCAA Championship. UT's two victories over No. 1 seeds came against USC in the 1986 title game and LSU in the 2003 regional final.
• Aston in the Dance: Head coach Karen Aston is making her third appearance in the NCAA Championship as a head coach (3-2 overall, 3-1 at Texas). Aston took Charlotte to the big dance in 2009 after earning the Atlantic 10's automatic bid. As an assistant coach at Texas from 1998-2006, Aston held a 7-7 record in the NCAA Championship, including an appearance in the 2003 Final Four.
• Second-half surge: Texas is averaging 26.0 points in the first half and 43.5 points in the second half through two NCAA postseason games.
• Close calls: Texas won its first two games of the tournament by two points against WKU, 66-64, and three points against Cal, 73-70.
• Tied at halftime: UT is coming off three consecutive NCAA postseason games which were tied at halftime -- 3/25/14 at Maryland (31-31); 3/20/15 vs. WKU (25-25); 3/22/15 at Cal (27-27). The last non-NCAA Championship game involving Texas to be tied at halftime was in 2011 -- 3/2/11 vs. Texas Tech (31-31).
TEXAS-UCONN SERIES
• Texas and Connecticut will meet for the sixth time in program history on Saturday in the NCAA Championship Albany Regional Semifinal. UConn leads the all-time series, 5-0.
• It will be the third time Texas and UConn face in NCAA tournament competition. The Huskies have been a No. 1 seed in all three meetings, including Saturday's game.
• The series dates back to 2003, when UConn edged Texas, 71-69, in the Final Four in Atlanta.
POSTSEASON PLAY ONLY
In five postseason games this season:
• Texas is holding opponents to 63.2 points per game on 35.8 percent shooting from the field.
• Texas has a +7.0 rebound margin.
• Junior center Imani McGee-Stafford is the team leader in scoring (15.8 ppg) and rebounding (11.0 rpg) in 24.6 minutes per game.
• Junior guard Empress Davenport is the second-leading scorer (10.0 ppg).
• Junior guards Brady Sanders (4.2 apg) and Celina Rodrigo (3.8 apg) lead in assists.
• Texas has used two different starting lineups.
AGAINST TOP-25 OPPONENTS
• Texas is 5-2 against opponents ranked in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 this season, including a 3-1 mark away from home.
• Texas is 1-0 against No. 1-ranked teams this season (USA Today Coaches poll). The Longhorns defeated then-No. 1 Stanford, 87-81 in overtime, on Nov. 20, 2014 in Palo Alto -- just days after Stanford defeated UConn on the same court.
• The last Texas victory over a No. 1-ranked team in the AP poll was against Tennessee, 74-59, on Nov. 25, 2004 in Austin.
• UConn is ranked No. 1 in both national polls.
TOP 10 TOPPERS
• Texas is 3-2 against top-10 teams this season with wins at then-No. 6/1 Stanford (Nov. 20), against then-No. 4/5 Tennessee (Nov. 30) in Austin, against then-No. 4/5 Texas A&M in Little Rock, Arkansas.
STARTING LINEUPS
• In 34 games, Texas has used 12 different starting lineups.
• In the first two NCAA tournament games, Texas has started Rodrigo, Davenport, Sanders, Taylor, and McGee-Stafford.
• 10 of the 11 Longhorns who average at least 10 minutes per game, have started a game this season.
• Sophomore center Kelsey Lang has started in a team-high 31 games and junior guard Brady Sanders has started in 28 games.
MISS MARCH
• All-Big 12 First Team center Imani McGee-Stafford has five double-doubles in the month of March (last seven games), including four consecutive. She averages 15.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks.
• She has shot .500 from the field or better in each game this March, totaling a .614 field goal percentage.
• McGee-Stafford began NCAA tournament play with back-to-back 20-point performances in Berkeley -- 24 points (10-13 FG) and 15 rebounds in 30 minutes against WKU, and 20 points (7-10 FG) and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes against Cal.
• In her seven starts this season, McGee-Stafford averages 16.4 points (.641 FG%), 9.7 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks.
• Per 40 minutes, she averages 22.1 points, 15.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocks
• In UT's double-overtime win over Oklahoma (Jan. 29), McGee-Stafford registered her first double-double of the season with season highs of 15 points, 11 rebounds and 29 minutes played.
• McGee-Stafford played for the first time of the season on Dec. 17 against McNeese State after recovering from surgery to reinforce her left tibia in September. She missed the first eight games of the season.
• McGee-Stafford is the 2013 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors last season.
• On Jan. 17, she became engaged to Paul Boyette Jr., a defensive tackle on the Texas Football team.
LAST 11 GAMES
• Since starting the conference season 4-8, Texas has won nine of its last 11 games entering Saturday.
• During the last 11 games, the Longhorns are averaging 68.0 points and holding opponents to 61.2 points -- an 8.1 scoring margin.
• Texas began its first 12 games of conference play shooting 26 percent from 3-point range, but is now shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc in the last 11 games.
• Junior center Imani McGee-Stafford is the team's leading scorer during this period, averaging 13.0 points in just 21.9 minutes. McGee-Stafford also has team-highs of 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 1.2 steals, and a .570 field goal percentage.
DEEP BENCH
• In the last nine games, UT's bench has out-scored the opponent's bench by an average margin of +20.5 points (27.6-7.1).
• The Longhorns' bench averages 25.1 points this season.
• Based on total minutes off the bench, Texas uses its reserves 27 percent more often than its opponent (2,554 Texas bench minutes - 1,854 opponent bench minutes).
CRASHING THE BOARDS
• Texas has out-rebounded 31 of 34 opponents this season, including a +21 rebounding advantage in the NCAA Championship First Round against WKU (March 20).
• UT's +9.7 rebounding margin ranks 11th in the nation.
• The Horns are averaging 42.4 rebounds per game and are holding opponents to 32.7 rebounds per game.
MOST WINS IN OVER 10 YEARS
• With 24 wins this season, Texas (24-10, 9-9 Big 12) has the most wins since posting a 30-5 record during the 2003-04 season.
• The Longhorns have reached 20 wins for the 32nd time in program history this season.
• For the second consecutive season, Texas won its 20th game in the regular season finale -- needing 30 games to reach 20 wins last season, and 29 games to reach 20 wins this season.
• Last season's 22-win campaign broke a three-season drought of reaching 20 wins.
• All of UT's 20-win teams have earned a berth in the NCAA Championship since joining the Association in the 1982-83 season.
• Karen Aston has been apart of eight 20-win teams at Texas -- six as an assistant coach (1998-2006) and two as a head coach (2012-present).
WINS AND LOSSES
• During its 24 wins this season, Texas has averaged 71.2 points on 44.7 percent shooting from the field.
• During UT's nine losses, the Horns average 60.8 points on 37.9 percent shooting.
• The Longhorns are 14-0 when scoring 70 points or more.
• Texas has a +1.1 turnover margin during wins and a -6.0 turnover margin in losses.
POINTS IN THE PAINT
• Texas is out-scoring its opponents in the paint with a +11.5 margin this season.
• The Longhorns have scored 40+ points in the paint in eight games this season, including an average of 47.0 points in the paint through two NCAA postseason games
• During non-conference play, Texas had a 41-19 scoring advantage in the paint.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
• The Longhorns have recorded a double-double 19 times this season. Injured senior forward Nneka Enemkpali leads with nine doubles-doubles, followed by Imani McGee-Stafford (8) and Kelsey Lang (2).
• Lang posted 20 points and 11 rebounds against Baylor (Feb. 8) for her first career double-double.
• McGee-Stafford posted four consecutive double-doubles entering Saturday's contest.
• Enemkpali registered nine double-doubles in just 17 games this season. She finished her collegiate career with 30 double-doubles. Her streak of seven this season set a program record for consecutive double-doubles. She also had six consecutive double-doubles as a sophomore in 2012-13.
