The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
No. 12 Women's Basketball preview: Oklahoma State [Feb. 1, 2017]
01.31.2017 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns looking to extend winning streak to 15 games.
No. 12/13 Texas Longhorns (16-4, 10-0 Big 12) at Oklahoma State Cowgirls (13-7, 3-6 Big 12)
Time: Wednesday, February 1, 2017 | 7 p.m. CT
Location: Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)
TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma (Mike Wolfe, Casey Kendrick)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Dave Garrett, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio |
STILLWATER, Okla. – The No. 12/13 University of Texas women's basketball team looks to extend its win streak to 15 games Wednesday when it travels to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State. Tip-off in Gallagher-Iba Arena is slated for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised live by Fox Sports Oklahoma.
The Longhorns (16-4, 10-0 Big 12 Conference) are coming off a 69-54 win against No. 22/22 West Virginia on Sunday in Austin. Texas' 14-game winning streak currently is the nation's fourth-longest active win streak.
Texas ranks fourth nationally in rebound margin with a +11.6 edge on the boards. The Longhorns have won the battle of the boards in 18 of 20 games this season. UT also is 17th nationally in blocked shots per game with 5.7 and also is 17th in the NCAA in scoring margin at +15.7.
Freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes is the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week and the third time in her career. She is averaging 11.8 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game, both of which rank first among Big 12 freshmen. Holmes also contributes 1.2 blocks per game. Last week, she averaged 12.5 points per game and a squad-best 10.5 rebounds per game.
Junior point guard Brooke McCarty leads the way for the Longhorns, ranking 12th in the Big 12 Conference with 13.8 points per game. She also leads Texas with 46 three-pointers made and 70 assists on the year. McCarty ranks second in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.3.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 12.9 points per game, which ranks 15th in the Big 12, and she is fourth in the league in steals per game at 2.1. Senior center Kelsey Lang is the team's leading rebounder at 8.2 boards per game, which ranks fourth in the Big 12. She also averages 9.7 points per game and has blocked a squad-best 42 shots.
A pair of Texas players are coming up on several important milestones. McCarty has 150 career three-pointers and needs three more to surpass Erika Arriaran (152) for seventh-place on the school's all-time career three-pointers made list. Lang has 153 career blocks and needs four more to surpass Joy Williams (156) for seventh-place on the school's all-time career blocks list.
Texas and Oklahoma State meet for the 46th time in the history of the two programs. The Longhorns lead the all-time series between the two teams 30-15. The series is tied 10-10 when the game is played in Stillwater where, last season, Texas notched its first win since 2009. The Longhorns defeated the Cowgirls 66-35 earlier this season on Jan. 10.
Oklahoma State enters Wednesday's game with a 13-7 overall record, including a 3-6 mark in Big 12 play. The Cowgirls are coming off a 74-69 loss at Kansas State on Saturday. Junior center Kaylee Jensen is the Big 12 leader in both scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounding (10.6 rpg). She also ranks fifth in the conference in blocks per game at 2.0.
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 1,028 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 105-50 (.678) 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 57-6 (.905) when playing in the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns are 28-2 (.933) at home over the past two seasons.
• Texas has won 14 consecutive games, which is the nation's fourth-longest active winning streak.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in 18 of its 20 games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +11.6. 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 3-4 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 153 career blocks. She needs four more blocks to surpass Joy Williams (156) for seventh place all-time.
• Lang has played in 124 games in her UT career. She needs to play in nine more games to move into the all-time Texas top-10 list in career games played.
• Junior guard Brooke McCarty has 150 career three-pointers made, which ranks eighth all-time in UT school history. She needs three 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 .398 clip (150-of-377). 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.
