The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 22/22 West Virginia
No. 12 Women's Basketball preview: No. 22 West Virginia [Jan. 29, 2017]
01.27.2017 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns look to sweep season series with Mountaineers for second consecutive year.
No. 12/13 Texas Longhorns (15-4, 9-0 Big 12) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (16-5, 4-5 Big 12)
Time: Sunday, January 29, 2017 | 3 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)
TV: FS1 (Ron Thulin, Brenda VanLengen)
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn (Craig Way, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets |
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 12/13 University of Texas women's basketball team looks to cap a perfect January for the first time since 1989 when it plays host to No. 22/22 West Virginia on Sunday as part of Exes Weekend. Tip-off in the Frank Erwin Center is slated for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on FS1.
The first 100 UT students in attendance inside Entrance E will receive a free pair of Longhorn argyle socks. The UT student shuttle will begin running 90 minutes prior to tipoff.
Sunday's game will be preceded by the annual UT & ME expo aimed to empower girls in sports, in school, and in life. Student-athletes from various teams, including Texas Volleyball, Texas Track and Field, Texas Rowing and Texas Soccer will line the concourse with special activities. Fans who wish to participate can pick up a credential at the marketing table near section 30. Fans who complete their UT & ME credential will receive a free backpack tag.
As part of Exes Weekend, the Texas women's basketball alumni in attendance will be introduced at halftime. After the game, fans are invited to the Lone Star Room for a Postgame Fast Break with selected coaches and players.
The Longhorns (15-4, 9-0 Big 12 Conference) are currently on a 13-game winning streak, which is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball right now. Texas is off to a 9-0 start in Big 12 Conference play for the first time in program history.
With a win on Sunday, Texas would finish the month of January with a perfect 9-0 record. It would mark the first perfect January for the Longhorns since 1989. Eight Texas teams have finished with perfect records in January, but this would be the first perfect January in the Big 12 Conference era for the Longhorns.
"One thing we know about [West Virginia head coach] Mike Carey is that he's a defensive-minded coach and his kids play really, really hard," Texas assistant coach George Washington said. "We're expecting a battle here. We don't expect anything less any time we play them. They're a complete team."
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Texas is 56-6 (.903) when playing inside the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns are 27-2 (.931) at home over the past two seasons, with both of those losses coming to top-six foes.
Freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes is the reigning Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Week. On the season, she is averaging 11.8 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game and 1.3 blocks per game. She is the only freshman in the Big 12 to rank among the league's top-15 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. Holmes has recorded five double-doubles on the season, including three consecutive.
Junior point guard Brooke McCarty leads the way for the Longhorns, averaging 13.8 points per game, which ranks 12th in the Big 12 Conference. She is shooting 44.7 percent from the field, has knocked down a team-high 43 three-pointers and has dished out a squad-best 64 assists. McCarty ranks second in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.3.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 13.3 points per game, which ranks 14th in the Big 12 Conference. She is also third in the league in steals, averaging 2.1 swipes per game. Senior center Kelsey Lang adds 9.5 points per game and is the team's leading rebounder at 8.2 boards per game, which ranks fifth in the Big 12. Lang is the Longhorns' leading shot blocker with 40 on the season.
Texas and West Virginia meet for the 13th time in the history of the two programs with the Longhorns leading the all-time series 7-5. Texas is a perfect 4-0 against the Mountaineers when the game is played in Austin. Earlier this season, the Longhorns defeated West Virginia 73-63 on Jan. 14 in Morgantown, W.Va.
The Mountaineers enter Sunday's game with a 16-5 overall record and a 4-5 mark in Big 12 Conference play. West Virginia is coming off an 89-79 win against Texas Tech on Wednesday. The Mountaineers are led by sophomore guard Tynice Martin, who ranks second in the Big 12 averaging 17.5 points per game. Junior forward Teana Muldrow follows with 14.8 points per game. Senior center Lanay Montgomery is the Big 12 Conference's second-leading rebounder at 9.7 boards per game, while leading the nation in field goal percentage at 66.4 percent and ranking sixth nationally in blocked shots per game at 3.5.
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 fifth all-time in NCAA history with 1,027 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 104-50 (.675) in her fifth season at the helm of the Longhorns. She is the program's second-winningest coach in UT history behind Jody Conradt's 783 victories on the Forty Acres.
• Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Texas is 56-6 (.903) when playing in the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns are 27-2 (.931) at home over the past two seasons.
• Texas has won 13 consecutive games, which is the nation's fourth-longest active winning streak.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in 17 of its 19 games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +11.8. The Longhorns rank fourth nationally in rebound margin.
• The Longhorns rank 17th nationally in blocked shots per game with 5.7 blocks per game.
• Texas is 2-4 this season against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top-25. The Longhorns were 7-5 (.583) against ranked foes last season.
• Senior center Kelsey Lang currently ranks eighth in UT school history with 151 career blocks. She needs six more blocks to surpass Joy Williams (156) for seventh place all-time.
• Lang has played in 123 games in her UT career. She needs to play in 10 more games to move into the all-time Texas top-10 list in career games played.
• Junior guard Brooke McCarty has 147 career three-pointers made, which ranks eighth all-time in UT school history. She needs six more three pointers to surpass Erika Arriaran (152) for seventh place all-time.
• McCarty ranks fourth in school history in three-point field goal percentage with a .395 clip (147-of-372). 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.
PRE-GAME QUOTES
Texas Assistant Coach George Washington
On facing No. 22 West Virginia on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Center …
"One thing we know about [West Virginia head coach] Mike Carey is that he's a defensive-minded coach and his kids play really, really hard. We're expecting a battle here. We don't expect anything less any time we play them. They have talented guards that aggressively and confidently shoot the ball. They have a stretch-four [Teana Muldrow] who makes you go out there and guard her, and they have a monster in the middle [Lanay Montgomery]. They're a complete team."
On the importance of Exes Weekend for the team's current student-athletes …
"The success of any women's athletics program is based on the tradition that was laid before them. This weekend is huge for us because it gives our players a reference to the history of what this program is all about. I think there are a lot of successful women's basketball programs across the country that maintain their success because of the history and tradition of the program. I want our kids to understand that we're carrying something on that started way before they got here."
On what has been key to Texas' 13-game win streak …
"It's a combination of some things. It's a combination of what now looks like some very wise scheduling on the front end, because we learned some lessons very early, and it's also our kids understanding their roles better. We had six newcomers this year, and we had to get them acclimated. I think those things are coming together right now. Our young kids are playing really good, our older kids are leading really, really well, and we've been able to get on a roll."
On if Texas' players may have been too focused on the hype heading into the season …
"That can happen when you're really, really talented and you've never seen what you're going against. All of our kids have this kind of non-fear factor. It's one of the reasons we recruited them, but they may not have understood that playing at this level is a grind every single day, not just on the competition court, but also in practice. The lessons that have been taught to them are being put into effect right now."
On the team's chemistry …
"We're stronger together than we are as individuals, and I think we're at that point because defensively we're on a really good roll, rebounding-wise we're on a really good roll. We've got some players who are maximizing their abilities defensively and in rebounding, but we're doing it collectively, so we really don't have a weak point right now. I like the way we're playing."
On the play of freshman Joyner Holmes, who has three consecutive double-doubles …
"Joyner possesses some tools that you just can't teach. Her ability to pass the ball – for a freshman, but also for her position – is just amazing. It allows us to do some things that aren't common for a women's basketball team. A 6-foot-3 guard-forward who can find anybody on the floor and find any weak spot in the defense is pretty amazing. And then her ability to rebound the ball and start the break for us is big. There are some things she has naturally, but she's still figuring it out because she's a freshman, but she's helping us a lot. This is just the tip of the iceberg and I think the sky is the limit."
On Brooke McCarty leading the Longhorns despite her 5-foot-4 stature …
"I've known Brooke for a long time and that has always been the case. She has always played against older kids. When she was in middle school, she was playing against high school kids. She has this kind of chip on her shoulder like, 'I'm small, but I'm the biggest kid out here.' That type of leadership guiding us at our point guard position spreads throughout our team. This year she has really understood how to command her team, how to get into the offense, but in key moments of the game she always hits a big shot which she loves."
On the spark Lashann Higgs has provided for Texas, especially in the last six games …
"Coach Aston has challenged Lashann to be a great on-ball defender, a great rebounder at the guard position, and just bring her energy. I'm really proud that she has come on and given us a huge bench off the bench. That's one of the positives of our team – the depth that we bring in off the bench. We hardly drop in performance when the bench comes in."
On Texas' impressive passing …
"Our team loves to share the ball. It's almost a crutch at times – we have to say 'take the shot, take the shot,' but they love to see each other be successful. That's one of the things when we've watched great teams from the past at the University of Texas, we've seen how seamlessly that talent fits together. It has to do with them making sacrifices of a little bit of themselves, but them also elevating each other and holding each other accountable."
