The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 8/10 Women’s Basketball defeats Houston Baptist in home opener, 98-46
11.16.2016 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns hold a perfect 5-0 record in home openers under Karen Aston’s direction.
Box Score (PDF) | Postgame Notes | Postgame Quotes | Photo Gallery
AUSTIN, Texas – Freshman Joyner Holmes was one rebound shy of her first career double-double and led all scorers with 22 points and nine rebounds as the No. 8/10 Texas Women's Basketball toppled Houston Baptist, 98-46, in front of 6,378 fans inside the Frank Erwin Center on Wednesday.
With the win, the Longhorns move to 39-4 (.907) all-time in home openers and hold an unblemished 5-0 record under Texas head coach Karen Aston.
This was the first meeting between Texas and Houston Baptist in program history. The Horns lead the all-time series over Southland Conference foes, 36-9.
"I thought our team came out with a lot of energy," said Aston. "It was a difficult game for us to play this morning, honestly, because of the road trip and how late we got back. I was anxious to see how we would bounce back from a loss. I was pleased with the face that we were focused and ready to play today."
Holmes's 22-point game came behind an 8-of-17 shooting effort (.471) from the floor. She also added three blocks and one assist. Junior Brooke McCarty followed suit with 16 points, including a 4-of-5 effort from downtown, and four assists.
Junior Ariel Atkins posted 11 points with three steals, while rookies Jada Underwood and Alecia Sutton rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Senior Kelsey Lang put up two points and two blocks for the game, moving her onto the Texas all-time top-10 list for career blocks with 112.
As a team, Texas shot 46.1 percent (35-of-76) from the floor while holding Houston Baptist to a 28.8 shooting percentage (15-of-52). The Horns dominated every category across the board, including double-figures in assists (18), blocks (10), and steals (11).
Houston Baptist was led by freshman Lauren Calver with 11 points.
Texas jumped out on a 19-3 run to open the game, but the Huskies found their strength from the three-point range, draining four treys in the first quarter, to try and chip away at the Longhorns lead. Early foul trouble proved problematic for HBU, and Texas went on to end the quarter, 28-17.
The Horns held HBU to only four points in the second stanza and used their quick hands to convert 11 points off turnovers. The 29-4 margin quickly widened the Texas lead headed into the locker rooms, 57-21.
The third quarter played to Texas's post advantage, and the Longhorns went on to claim 14 points inside the paint. Holmes put an exclamation point on the quarter with a buzzer-beating jumper to end the stanza, 81-31.
Texas took its largest lead of the night, a 56-point spread, after a three-pointer from Sutton with 6:55 remaining on the game clock. In the end, the Longhorns finished just two shy of the century mark with the 98-46 victory.
Up next on the slate, Texas will travel to Starkville, Miss. to take on No. 10/9 Mississippi State on Sunday, Nov. 20. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. and the game will be carried on the SEC Network.
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