The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
West Virginia
No. 6 Women's Basketball preview: No. 22 West Virginia [March 6, 2016]
03.06.2016 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns compete in Big 12 Tournament semifinals for the third consecutive year.
No. 6/7 Texas Longhorns (27-3) vs. No. 22/RV West Virginia Mountaineers (24-8)
Big 12 Tournament Semifinals
Location: Oklahoma City, Okla. | Chesapeake Energy Arena
Time: Sunday, March 6, 2016 | 4 p.m. CT
TV: FS1 (Ron Thulin, Brenda VanLengen)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Craig Way, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio
OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 6/7 University of Texas women's basketball team will compete in its third consecutive Big 12 Tournament semifinals on Sunday when it faces No. 22/RV West Virginia at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by FS1.
The Longhorns (27-3) are looking for their second consecutive appearance in the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game. Texas, seeded second, is coming off a 66-50 win against 10th-seeded Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals on Sunday. Senior guard Celina Rodrigo scored a season-high 13 points, including a career-high four three-pointers.
Texas holds an all-time record of 22-18 in the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
"It had been over a month since we had seen Kansas," Texas head coach Karen Aston said. "That was a quick turn-around to try to prepare for them and then, on the flip side tomorrow, we'll play a team that we've seen recently. So I think the preparation will be a little more mental, not necessarily having to walk through a bunch of things because we're pretty familiar with them. I think that will be helpful with the quick turnaround."
Following Rodrigo's squad-best 13 points on Saturday in the Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals, the Longhorns have now had nine different leading scorers across their 30 games this season. Sophomore guard Brooke McCarty has been UT's leading scorer a team-best 10 times this year.
Senior center Imani Boyette has continued to move up the UT career charts. On Saturday, she moved into 24th place on the school's all-time scoring list and has 1,308 career points. She also moved into fifth place on the school's all-time career rebounds list and has 985 career boards. Boyette needs 15 more rebounds to become the first person in program history to score more than 1,000 career points, bring down more than 1,000 career rebounds and to block 200 or more shots.
Texas and West Virginia meet for the 11th time in the history of the two programs with the all-time series tied at 5-5. The Longhorns have won both meetings with the Mountaineers this season. The two teams met in the semifinals of the 2013-14 Big 12 Tournament, also in Oklahoma City, with West Virginia winning 67-60.
West Virginia enters Sunday's game with a 24-8 overall record and the Mountaineers have won four consecutive games since a 73-50 loss at Texas on Feb. 21 in Austin. West Virginia defeated Kansas State 74-65 in Saturday's Big 12 Conference Tournament Quarterfinals. Guard Tynice Martin, the 2015-16 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, led the way for the Mountaineers with 20 points.
