The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 2/2 UConn
No. 14 Women's Basketball preview: No. 2 UConn [Dec. 4, 2016]
12.03.2016 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns and Huskies meet Sunday at 3 p.m. CT in Jimmy V Classic.
No. 14/15 Texas Longhorns (2-3) vs. No. 2/2 UConn Huskies (6-0)
Time: Sunday, December 4, 2016 | 3 p.m. CT
Location: Uncasville, Conn. | Mohegan Sun (9,323)
TV: ESPN (Beth Mowins, Kara Lawson)
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn (Craig Way, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | WatchESPN | Live Stats | Live Audio
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 14/15 University of Texas women's basketball team faces its second top-three opponent in a four-day stretch when it travels to Uncasville, Conn., to meet No. 2/2 UConn on Sunday as part of the Jimmy V Classic. Tip-off at the Mohegan Sun is slated for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
For the Longhorns (2-3), this marks their fourth game against a top-15 opponent in their six outings so far this season. Texas is coming off a 76-67 loss to No. 3/3 South Carolina on Thursday in Austin.
"It's definitely a huge test, and this is a really interesting combination of games this week," Texas head coach Karen Aston said. "We're going to go to the NCAA Tournament and we're going to have situations where you have to turn around really quickly and play quality opponents back-to-back. And so we have to look at it in that manner that this is going to be a great learning tool to be able to use somewhere down the road in tournament play. I think when we get finished with this and look back on it, these are the types of teams that you have to beat to go to the Final Four and do the things I know this team has a desire to do."
Texas has won the rebounding battle in each of its five games so far this season. The Longhorns hold a +13.4 margin on the boards this year and rank 11th in the nation in rebound margin.
Junior guard Brooke McCarty leads the way for the Longhorns, averaging 14.4 points per game, shooting 48.3 percent from the field and recording a squad-best 10 three-pointers. She also has dished out a team-high 18 assists. McCarty needs just one more three-pointer to move onto Texas' all-time top-10 list for career three-pointers made.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 13.6 points per game and leads the Big 12 Conference with 2.6 steals per game, while freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes adds 11.4 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Senior center Kelsey Lang is averaging 8.2 points per game and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game. Over the last two games combined, Lang is leading her team during that stretch, averaging 13.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game with seven blocked shots during that stretch. Lang needs just two more blocks to move past Stacy Stephens for ninth place on the UT career blocks list.
Texas and UConn meet for the eighth time in the history of the two programs. The Huskies lead the all-time series 7-0. The two teams have met each of the last two years in the NCAA Tournament, including an 86-65 UConn win last season in the NCAA Elite Eight.
UConn, which has won the last four NCAA Championships, enters Sunday's game with a 6-0 record. The Huskies are coming off a 91-46 win against No. 15/14 DePaul on Thursday night. UConn is led by sophomore guard/forward Katie Lou Samuelson, who is averaging a squad-best 20.3 points per game. Sophomore guard/forward Napheesa Collier follows with 18.2 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 67 percent from the field.
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 1,014 all-time victories.
• The Longhorns consistently play a rigorous non-conference schedule. The Huskies are the fourth 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 91-49 at UT.
• The Longhorns are seeking their 500th all-time win in the Frank Erwin Center this season. Texas has a 498-96 (.838) 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 48-6 (.889) when playing in the Frank Erwin Center.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in each of its five games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +13.4. The Longhorns rank 11th nationally in rebound margin.
• Junior guard Ariel Atkins has scored in double figures in each of Texas' five games this season.
• Atkins leads the Big 12 Conference in steals per game at 2.6.
• McCarty needs just one more three-pointer to move onto the Texas all-time career three-pointers made list. McCarty has made 114 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 .388 clip (114-of-294). 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 120 career rejections. Lang needs just two more blocks to move past Stacy Stephens (121) for ninth on the all-time career blocks chart.
• Lang has played in 109 games during her Texas career. She needs to play in 24 more games to move into the UT all-time top-10 for career games played at 133.
