The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 11/10 Stanford
No. 8 Women's Basketball preview: No. 11 Stanford
11.13.2016 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns and Cardinal meet at 7 p.m. CT Monday on ESPN2.
No. 8/6 Texas Longhorns (0-0) at No. 11/10 Stanford Cardinal (1-0)
Time: Monday, November 14, 2016 | 7 p.m. CT
Location: Palo Alto, Calif. | Maples Pavilion (7,233)
TV: ESPN2 (Paul Sunderland, Nell Fortner)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Roger Wallace, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | WatchESPN | Live Stats | Live Audio
AUSTIN, Texas – Two of the most storied programs in the history of NCAA Division I women's basketball meet on Monday when No. 8/6 Texas travels to Palo Alto, Calif., to face No. 11/10 Stanford. Tip-off in Maples Pavilion is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
Texas head coach Karen Aston will coach her 300th career game on Monday, boasting a career record of 190-109 (.635) in her 10th season as a collegiate head coach. She is 89-46 (.659) entering her fifth season as the head coach of the Longhorns.
"Any time that you play one of [Stanford head coach] Tara's [VanDerveer] teams, you know you are getting ready to be challenged," Aston said. "We'll have to be prepared, or as prepared as we can be for the first game. It is also one of those games that you have to make some adjustments during the game and really think the game. We also know that it's one of those that you better play every possession. So it's going to teach us some lessons one way or the other about where our team is at."
Texas opens up on the road for just the second time in the last 13 years. The Longhorns are 32-10 (.762) all-time in season openers and are a perfect 4-0 in lid-lifters under Aston's direction.
The Longhorns are coming off one of the finest seasons in program history in 2015-16. Texas posted 31 victories a year ago – its most since the 1987-88 season. The Longhorns made their first NCAA Elite Eight appearance since the 2002-03 campaign. Texas began the year with 16 consecutive wins for the third-best start in program history.
Texas returns its top scorer from a year ago in junior point guard Brooke McCarty. McCarty averaged 11.8 points per game last season and dished out 89 assists. McCarty, who played a squad best 31.1 minutes per game last season, was a 2016 Preseason All-Big 12 Selection and has been named to the preseason watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the nation's best point guard.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins averaged 11.2 points per game a season ago and shot a squad-best 53.6 percent from the field. Atkins was a 2016 Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection. She scored in double figures on 16 occasions last year, including each of the Longhorns' four NCAA Tournament games.
Atkins and McCarty each were named to the Sporting News Preseason All-America Teams. Atkins was a second-team selection, while McCarty was named to the third team.
Stanford leads the all-time series between the two teams 6-4, but Texas has won back-to-back meetings. The Longhorns defeated the Cardinal 77-69 in Austin last season. Two years ago, Texas won an 87-81 overtime thriller over Stanford on its home court.
The Cardinal opened their season on Friday night, defeating Cal Poly 83-55. Five Stanford players scored in double figures, led by guard Briana Roberson's 16 points. The Cardinal shot 53.1 percent from the field in the victory and out-rebounded Cal Poly 45-37.
QUICK NOTES
• Texas is one of just eight programs in NCAA Division I women's basketball history to reach 1,000 all-time wins. The Longhorns achieved the milestone on January 27, 2016. Texas ranks sixth all-time in NCAA history with 1,012 all-time victories.
• Texas head coach Karen Aston will coach her 300th career game as a collegiate head coach when the Longhorns open the regular season at Stanford on November 14.
• The Longhorns are seeking their 500th all-time win in the Frank Erwin Center this season. Texas has a 495-95 (.839) all-time record within the friendly confines of the Erwin Center, which opened during the 1977-78 season.
• Seven players on the current Texas roster are McDonald's High School All-Americans. The Longhorns ranks second nationally in most McDonald's All-Americans on current rosters.
• Last season, Texas had nine different leading scorers throughout the year. Brooke McCarty led her team in scoring on a squad-best 10 occasions.
• Senior center Kelsey Lang needs just one more blocked shot to move onto the Texas all-time career blocks list. Lang has 111 career blocks and, with one more blocked shot, she would tie Carla Littleton (1996-01) for 10th place all-time.
• Lang has played in 104 games during her Texas career. She needs to play in 29 more games to move into the UT all-time top-10 for career games played at 133.
• Junior guard Brooke McCarty needs 11 more three-pointers to move onto the Texas all-time career three-pointers made list. McCarty has made 104 three-pointers in her career and, with 11 more, would tie Vicki Hall (1988-93) for 10th place all-time.
• McCarty ranks fifth in school history in three-point field goal percentage with a .385 clip (104-of-270). Current Texas assistant Jamie Carey holds the school record in three-point field goal percentage at .418. Just three players in UT history - Carey, Kat Nash and Vicki Hall - have shot better than .400 beyond the three-point arc for their careers.
• Junior guard Ariel Atkins ranks fifth in UT history with a .822 free-throw percentage. Atkins has made 125 of her 152 career free-throw attempts. The school record for free-throw percentage is .882, set by Erika Arriaran during her career from 2005-10.
