The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 3/3 South Carolina
No. 14 Women's Basketball preview: No. 3 South Carolina [Dec. 1, 2016]
11.30.2016 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns and Gamecocks meet in SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
No. 14/15 Texas Longhorns (2-2) vs. No. 3/3 South Carolina Gamecocks (5-0)
Time: Thursday, December 1, 2016 | 6 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)
TV: ESPN2 (Dave O'Brien, Doris Burke)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Craig Way, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | WatchESPN | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 14/15 University of Texas women's basketball team hosts No. 3/3 South Carolina on Thursday as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Tip-off in the Frank Erwin Center is slated for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
For the Longhorns (2-2), it will mark their third top-15 matchup of the young season. Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Texas is 48-5 (.906) when playing in the Erwin Center.
For ticket information, please log on to www.TexasSports.com/WBBTickets. Admission for all UT students is free when presenting a valid UT student ID at the E Doors at the Erwin Center. Students can arrive early for free food courtesy of Newk's Eatery and a free Herd T-Shirt courtesy of Mighty Fine Burgers, Fries & Shakes. K9s in Flight will perform a seven-minute routine at halftime featuring high-flying, acrobatic dogs.
Texas and South Carolina are two-of-six teams nationally that have two or more coaches on their staffs that have played in the WNBA. Texas assistants Jamie Carey and Tina Thompson, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina assistant Nikki McCray all are former WNBA players.
Texas is led by junior point guard Brooke McCarty, who is averaging a squad-best 16.3 points per game and 3.8 assists per game. McCarty, who has scored in double figures in each of the team's four games this season, is shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from beyond the arc. McCarty has the opportunity on Thursday to move into the school's all-time top-10 for career three-pointers made. McCarty has made 113 three-pointers in her career and, with two more, would tie Vicki Hall (1988-93) for 10th place all-time at UT.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 13.5 points per game and freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes adds 11.5 points per game. Atkins leads the Big 12 Conference with 3.0 steals per game, while Holmes is bringing down a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game.
Texas and South Carolina meet for the third time in the history of the two programs and the first time since 2005. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 2-0. The last meeting came on November 25, 2005 at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas, a game that Texas won 59-55.
The Gamecocks are 5-0 on the season entering Thursday's game in Austin. South Carolina is coming off an 83-59 win against then-No. 4/4 Louisville last Sunday in Springfield, Mass. The Gamecocks are led by senior center Alaina Coates, the reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Week. Coates is averaging a team-leading 16.6 points per game and 12.8 rebounds per game. South Carolina has four players averaging better than 14 points per game this season.
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 1,014 all-time victories.
• The Longhorns consistently play a rigorous non-conference schedule. The Gamecocks are the third top-15 team that Texas will face already this season. The Longhorns' schedule consists of six non-conference opponents that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 or further during the 2015-16 campaign.
• Texas head coach Karen Aston is nine wins away from 100 on the Forty Acres. She is 91-48 at UT.
• The Longhorns are seeking their 500th all-time win in the Frank Erwin Center this season. Texas has a 498-95 (.840) all-time record within the friendly confines of the Erwin Center, which opened during the 1977-78 season.
• Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Texas is 48-5 (.906) when playing in the Frank Erwin Center.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in each of its four games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +16.0. The Longhorns rank sixth nationally in rebound margin.
• Junior guards Ariel Atkins and Brooke McCarty have scored in double figures in each of Texas' four games this season.
• Atkins leads the Big 12 Conference in steals per game at 3.0.
• McCarty needs just two more three-pointers to move onto the Texas all-time career three-pointers made list. McCarty has made 113 three-pointers in her career and, with two 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 .390 clip (113-of-290). 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.
• Senior center Kelsey Lang recently moved into the top-10 on the all-time Texas career blocks list. She currently has 114 career rejections. Lang needs eight more blocks to move past Stacy Stephens (121) for ninth on the all-time career blocks chart.
• Lang has played in 108 games during her Texas career. She needs to play in 25 more games to move into the UT all-time top-10 for career games played at 133.
PRE-GAME QUOTES
Texas Head Coach Karen Aston
"I think you're always excited to bring a game of this caliber and a team the caliber of South Carolina on our campus and in the Erwin Center. It should be a great environment. I hope everybody will come out. I know it's an early start at 6 p.m., but we've got free admission for the students. We're just trying to get everybody excited about women's basketball and in particular, a game where you're bringing in a top-five opponent."
On whether the players like the SEC/Big 12 Challenge …
"I think they've enjoyed it in the past, there's no question about that. The last two seasons. It started with [Texas] A&M. It didn't matter what that was, it was A&M, so that was a lot of fun. Then to be able to play Arkansas last year was fun for the team and it was in Oklahoma City where the [Big 12 Conference] tournament was going to be, so we've had some special match-ups that have been sort of personal for Texas. But, this matchup is a little bit different in a sense that it's the beginning of the total conference matchup in which everybody [in the Big 12] plays someone from the SEC. It's a pride thing, no question about it, but it's also a chance for us to take another test. Early in the season, we've definitely had some tests already. One that I'd say we failed, and one that I'd say we got a C in. This is just another chance for us to say, 'Have we gotten better?' Are we working on some things that should make us a better basketball team and are we translating that to games? I think that's really important for this team."
On what the Texas team has been working on in recent practices …
"What haven't we been working on is the bigger question. Some very technical things in a sense of, when you look at our two losses, both of those two games, there were areas of our defense that just weren't very good. Areas offensively, one game it was turnovers, one game it was missed free throws, so there are some things we've tried to clean up in each game we've played. Each day I think we get a little bit better with our offensive execution. Some of this is experience in a sense of, in particular, the defensive mistakes we're making, are mistakes that young kids make. A new team with new chemistry, sometimes you don't know if a person is going to be in the place they're supposed to be, so I think as the season goes along, you'll see us clean some of this up."
On whether the team leaders have talked to the younger players …
"I think the young players have had enough now to understand what a top-10 opponent looks like. We've had Stanford on the road and I anticipated the Mississippi State game being exactly what it was in the sense of rough and rugged. I did think they were a legitimate top-10 team and they looked like it when we played them. They were experienced, their guards looked like they were really seasoned, whereas a year ago when we played them, it still looked like they had some youth at the guard position, so, good for our team to go on the road. Good for our team to see the types of opponents that we're going to see day-in and day-out in the Big 12. I know everybody's not looking to conference play right now, but I do think our league may be as good as it's been since I've been back [at Texas]. So we need to get ready and every game is a chance for us to mentally think, 'How is this going to be in the Big 12?'"
Senior Center Kelsey Lang
On whether Texas looks at its top-25 matchups as a measuring stick …
"Definitely. I think playing against the best, you obviously learn very quickly where you stand against that. I think we've had games already that have tested us and I think these two [upcoming] games are no different."
On the team's difficult non-conference schedule …
"I think it is definitely helping us. It's helping us grow faster than anything else would've, and I think that's a good thing for us."
On what the Texas team has learned from its losses this season …
"I think we learned that we need to be more patient. I think that's the biggest thing we learned very quickly. I think we kind of knew it practicing through the month of October, but nothing prepares you like going into a game and going against an actual opponent that's not your practice guys. We definitely learned that we need to be more patient on offense and we definitely had areas on defense that we needed to work on.
On what makes South Carolina a good team …
"I think that the fact that they have a whole team. They have posts, they have guards, and a point guard that knows when to get it to certain players. So I think that it's not just one player that you need to worry about, it's multiple."
On how much the team appreciates the crowd support at the Erwin Center …
"A lot. We have been trying to get more and more fans each game throughout my entire career here and I think that it's finally starting to happen. I know that for Thursday we would love to have a full lower section and have students there supporting us, cheering us on. I think it would make for such a great environment for us to play in."
Senior Guard Brianna Taylor
On whether Texas looks at its top-25 matchups as a measuring stick …
"I think it will definitely be a measuring stick and I think it will be great for our program and for our fans to see how we're looking early on in the pre-conference season. I think it will prepare us for conference and, playing against these top-10 teams, is definitely going to prepare us because our conference is so difficult. Every night is going to be tough competition, so I think this is just going to get us ready for what we have looking forward to the Big 12."
On what the Texas team has learned from its losses this season …
"We learned that we're a younger team and we lost a last year, but we're definitely looking to grow from that. We watched a lot of film on our defense and our offense and we're expecting to fill those holes and those gaps that we got exposed in. We're just looking to get better."
On what makes South Carolina a good team …
"They're well-coached. A coach [Dawn Staley] that has a ton of experience. I think they're a complete team and they compete very hard. Going into this game, we know what we're up against. So we're just looking to go out there and give a good show."
On how much the team appreciates the crowd support at the Erwin Center …
"Of course we always want our fans to come out and enjoy the game and show support. I think it's going to huge because we've been trying to gain more fans every year that I've been here and I think it's just going to be good for our program. Playing against these top-10 teams is going to be good to bring in fans and students to see some good competition."
