The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
(6) 21-9, 9-9
TCU
(3) 17-13, 9-9
Women’s Basketball defeats TCU, advances to Big 12 Championship semifinals
03.07.2015 | Women's Basketball
No. 6 seed Texas advances to second straight Big 12 Championship semifinal.
DALLAS -- Texas Women's Basketball advanced to the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive season with a 67-61 victory over TCU in the quarterfinals on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
Texas will face No. 2 seed Oklahoma in the semifinals on Sunday (3:55 p.m. Central, FOX Sports 1).
Texas won for the sixth time in seven games by out-rebounding TCU, 48-34, and holding a 40-12 scoring advantage in the paint.
Sophomore center Kelsey Lang led the Longhorns with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting with six rebounds in 24 minutes. Freshman guard Ariel Atkins notched a career-high eight rebounds, and added 12 points in 26 minutes.
Texas fell behind to an early 5-0 deficit, but flexed its strength in the paint to take a commanding 38-24 lead into halftime. The Horns shot 52 percent from the field and held TCU to 27 percent shooting in the first half. Texas out-rebounded TCU, 25-14, and held a 28-6 scoring advantage in the paint. Lang led all players in the opening half with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting with six rebounds.
TCU drained six of their seven 3-point field goals in the second half to trim UT's double-digit lead to four three times throughout the half, including with 46 second remaining. That that was the closest they could get to UT's lead as junior guard Empress Davenport helped keep Texas afloat down the stretch, scoring 10 of the Longhorns' last 16 points in the final eight minutes of the game.
Davenport finished with 11 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench.
The No. 6-seed Longhorns (21-9) also defeated the No. 3-seed Horned Frogs (18-12) earlier this week after concluding the regular season with a 79-45 win over TCU on Tuesday in Austin. Saturday's win is just the fourth victory for Texas as a lower seed in the Big 12 Championship.
UT's second consecutive appearance in the Big 12 Championship semifinals begins at 3:55 on Sunday against No. 2-seed Oklahoma. The game will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1.
• TEXAS-TCU SERIES: Texas takes the season series, 2-1, and leads the all-time series, 35-2. Saturday marked the first meeting between Texas and TCU in a Big 12 Championship game.
• BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS: In the Big 12 Championship, Texas is now 20-17 overall, 12-12 against current Big 12 members, 7-4 as a No. 6 seed, and 2-2 under Head Coach Karen Aston. The Longhorns are 4-10 as the lower seed in the Big 12 Championship.
• OFF THE BENCH: UT's bench had a 27-12 scoring advantage over TCU's bench on Saturday. In the last five games, UT's bench has out-scored the opponent's bench by a total of 130-31.
• POINTS IN THE PAINT: Texas held a 40-12 edge in points in the paint on Saturday In three meetings this season, Texas has out-scored TCU in the paint, 114-38.
• FIELD GOALS / ASSISTS: Texas made 26 field goals on 20 assists.
