The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UT Rio Grande Valley
No. 16 Women's Basketball preview: UT Rio Grande Valley [Dec. 15, 2016]
12.14.2016 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns vying for the program's 500th all-time win in the Frank Erwin Center.
No. 16/17 Texas Longhorns (3-4) vs. UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (5-5)
Time: Thursday, December 15, 2016 | 7 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)
TV: Longhorn Network (Alex Loeb, Nell Fortner)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Chad Hastings, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | WatchESPN | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 16/17 University of Texas women's basketball team goes for the program's 500th all-time victory within the Frank Erwin Center on Thursday when it plays host to UT Rio Grande Valley. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by Longhorn Network.
Texas is 499-96 (.839) all-time 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 49-6 (.891) when playing in the Erwin Center.
The Longhorns (3-4) are coming off a 72-67 win against Tennessee last Sunday. That completed a streak of facing five opponents who advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 or further last season in Texas' first seven games this year.
Junior guard Brooke McCarty leads the Longhorns with 14.3 points per game. She is shooting 46.3 percent from the field on the season, knocking down a team-high 15 three-pointers and dishing out a squad-best 25 assists in 33.3 minutes per game of action.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 12.0 points per game, while freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes follows with 10.7 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Senior center Kelsey Lang is averaging a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game and has blocked a squad-best 17 shots. In her last four games combined, Lang is averaging a team-leading 12.8 points per game with a squad-best 8.3 rebounds per game and a team-high 15 blocks during that stretch.
Texas and UT Rio Grande Valley (previously UT Pan American) meet for the seventh time in the history of the two programs. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 6-0. The two teams last met on November 26, 2014, a 72-45 Texas win in the Erwin Center.
UTRGV enters Thursday's game with a 5-5 overall record. The Vaqueros are coming off an 86-53 loss at Oklahoma State on Sunday. Senior guard Shawnte' Goff leads UTRGV in scoring with 15.7 points per game, while junior forward Hildur Bjorg Kjartansdottir is bringing down a squad-best 8.7 rebounds per game.
QUICK NOTES
• Texas women's basketball is in the midst of its 43rd season of intercollegiate basketball.
• The Longhorns have won 12 conference regular season titles and 10 conference tournament titles.
• 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 1,015 all-time victories.
• The Longhorns consistently play a rigorous non-conference schedule. 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 eight wins away from 100 on the Forty Acres. She is 92-50 at UT.
• The Longhorns are seeking their 500th all-time win in the Frank Erwin Center this season. Texas has a 499-96 (.839) 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 49-6 (.891) when playing in the Frank Erwin Center.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in each of its seven games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +11.7. The Longhorns rank 16th nationally in rebound margin.
• Junior guard Brooke McCarty has 119 career three-pointers made, which ranks 10th all-time in UT school history. She needs four more three-pointers to surpass Alicia Sare (122) for ninth place all-time.
• McCarty ranks fifth in school history in three-point field goal percentage with a .390 clip (119-of-305). 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 currently ranks ninth in UT school history with 128 career blocks. She needs two more blocks to surpass Tracy Cook (129) for eighth place in school history.
