The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU
No. 15 Women's Basketball preview: TCU [Jan. 7, 2017]
01.06.2017 | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Karen Aston goes for 200th career victory.
No. 15/17 Texas Longhorns (9-4, 3-0 Big 12) vs. TCU Horned Frogs (8-6, 0-3 Big 12)
Time: Saturday, January 7, 2017 | 6 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)
TV: Longhorn Network (Alex Loeb, Fran Harris, Tyler Denning)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Roger Wallace, Kathy Harston)
Game Notes | WatchESPN | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets |
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas head women's basketball coach Karen Aston goes for her 200th career win on Saturday when the No. 15/17 Longhorns play host to TCU. Tip-off in the Frank Erwin Center is slated for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by Longhorn Network.
Longhorn Network will be on the air beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT with Texas Gameday, a half-hour pregame show leading up to Saturday's game.
The first 500 fans in attendance at the game will receive 2016-17 Texas Women's Basketball Trading Cards and a coupon from Delaware Subs. After the game, fans are invited to the Lone Star Room for a Postgame Fast Break with select coaches and players.
Aston is 199-113 (.638) in her 10th season as a collegiate head coach and 98-50 (.662) in her fifth season on the Forty Acres.
The Longhorns (9-4, 3-0 Big 12 Conference) are on a seven-game winning streak and are off to a 3-0 start in Big 12 play for just the fourth time in program history. The 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2015-16 teams all began the Big 12 slate with a program-best 5-0 record.
"Tomorrow is going to be a really tough game for us," Aston said. "TCU has a unique style that they play. They shoot a lot of threes and our defense is going to be challenged. TCU is a team that really, really forces you to be disciplined defensively and they throw a lot of different stuff at you defensively. So you have to have composure and our guards are going to have to play a lot better than we played on Wednesday at Kansas."
Texas ranks fifth nationally in rebound margin with a +13.8 edge. The Longhorns have won the battle of the boards in 12 of 13 games this season, including 61 rebounds in their last outing at Kansas, which marked the seventh-most boards in a single game in program history.
Junior point guard Brooke McCarty leads the way for the Longhorns, averaging a squad-best 13.5 points per game with team-leading totals in three pointers (28) and assists (46). She has scored in double figures in 10 of her 13 games this season.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 13.0 points per game overall, and is the team's leading scorer in Big 12 play with 15.3 points per game. Freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes adds 10.4 points per game.
Senior center Kelsey Lang is the team's leading rebounder at 8.8 boards per game and has also blocked a squad-best 29 shots. She adds 10.3 points per game. In conference games only, Lang is tied for the Big 12 lead in rebounding with 11.3 rebounds per game.
Texas and TCU meet for the 41st time in the history of the two programs with the Longhorns leading the all-time series 38-2. Texas is 18-0 all-time against TCU when the game is played in Austin. The Longhorns have won the last four meetings.
TCU enters Saturday's game with an 8-6 overall record and an 0-3 mark in Big 12 Conference play. The Horned Frogs lead the Big 12 Conference in three-point field goals made at 8.6 per game and lead the nation in three-point field-goal percentage at 42 percent. Junior guard AJ Alix leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.1 points per game, while sophomore forward Amy Okonkwo follows with 11.6 points per game.
KAREN ASTON CAREER MILESTONE WINS
|
Win |
Team Coaching |
Opponent (Date) |
Score |
|
1 |
Charlotte |
Hampton (11-21-07) |
72-47 |
|
50 |
Charlotte |
George Washington (01-16-10) |
52-42 |
|
100 |
North Texas |
Louisiana-Lafayette (02-18-12) |
78-40 |
|
150 |
Texas |
Oklahoma (01-29-15) |
84-81 (2OT) |
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 tied for fifth all-time in NCAA history with 1,021 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 two wins away from 100 on the Forty Acres. She is 98-50 (.662).
• Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Texas is 53-6 (.898) when playing in the Frank Erwin Center.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in 12 of its 13 games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +13.8. The Longhorns rank fifth nationally in rebound margin.
• The Longhorns rank 15th nationally in blocked shots per game with 6.2 blocks per game.
• Senior center Kelsey Lang ranks second in the Big 12 Conference in double-doubles with six on the season. Oklahoma State's Kaylee Jensen also has recorded seven double-dips on the year.
• Lang currently ranks eighth in UT school history with 140 career blocks. She needs 17 more blocks to surpass Joy Williams (156) for seventh place all-time.
• Lang has played in 117 games in her UT career. She needs to play in 16 more games to move into the all-time Texas top-10 list in career games played.
• Junior guard Brooke McCarty has 132 career three-pointers made, which ranks eighth all-time in UT school history. She needs 21 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 .394 clip (132-of-335). 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 Head Coach Karen Aston
"Tomorrow is going to be a really tough game for us. TCU has a unique style that they play. They shoot a lot of threes and our defense is going to be challenged. TCU is a team that really, really forces you to be disciplined defensively and they throw a lot of different stuff at you defensively. So you have to have composure and our guards are going to have to play a lot better than they played on Wednesday at Kansas."
On Texas ranking in the top-five nationally in rebound margin …
"We try to hang our hat a little bit on defense. It is a philosophy of mine. I think you have to be good on the boards in the Big 12 or you don't have a shot. We emphasize it and the players take a lot of responsibility with it. It has been somewhat of a committee this year. Joyner [Holmes] has helped us and the emergence of Kelsey [Lang] having the mindset to be a better rebounder for us has really helped also. And the emergence of some bigger guards. We were smaller at the guard position last year – we were actually small across the board when you got past Imani [Boyette]. This year, I think we do have a little bit more size across the board."
On if she is pleased with the team's 3-0 start to Big 12 play despite the need for improvement …
"I definitely think winning is better than losing. I am pleased that we're 3-0. I think Ames, Iowa, is as hard of a place to play as any place in the country. And I was really pleased with our win in Ames. I gambled a little bit and we drove the bus from Ames to Kansas, and I'm not sure this team was really ready for that. I was not pleased with how we played in Lawrence at all, and I don't think any of the players would tell you that they were very pleased either. You never want to take anything for granted in the league. Everyone is scratching and clawing for position. It was disappointing to me that we didn't perform a little better. But you always have another game and Saturday is another opportunity for us to prove ourselves. It's a home game and I do think trying to hold court at home is going to be really important."
On her takeaways from Wednesday's game at Kansas …
"I just don't want them to have to learn a lesson the hard way. We should have learned those lessons in the first semester. Now is the time when we should be benefiting from playing that schedule and being able to focus better. You never get upset as a coach if you're playing hard. We're young and I think we're going to make some mistakes and I think we're going to have nights when it's not pretty, and I'm okay with that. I just didn't think that we looked like a competitive, prideful team on Wednesday. You always look in the mirror first and I questioned myself as far as the road trip. Maybe our preparation wasn't as good as it should have been, but we have to make sure we correct that."
Junior Guard Brooke McCarty
On what Texas needs to improve upon from its last game against Kansas …
"We need to take care of the ball more, value possessions and don't do things that are out of character."
On her season-high six rebounds against Kansas on Wednesday …
"Coach has been preaching that we need to get guards involved in the rebounding game. They were kind of doubling Kelsey to not get rebounds and not let her get a double-double like she has been doing. The ball kind of fell into my hands and what Kelsey didn't get, I tried to help her get."
On the team's 3-0 start in Big 12 Conference play for the second consecutive year …
"I think it's a confidence booster for us. We're trying to focus game-by-game and just focus on our opponents. It has been good for our team to get those wins, even though they have been ugly at times. There is a lot of competition in our league and every game is a tough one."
Freshman Guard/Forward Joyner Holmes
On Texas ranking in the top-five nationally in rebound margin …
"During practice, Coach constantly preaches that the guards have to get in the rebounding game. As post players, we all know that we have to rebound because second-chance points, most of the time, come from our post players."
On what Texas needs to do to improve on its performance from Kansas on Wednesday …
"We had a goal going into the game because we knew that Kansas was a team that forces other teams to have turnovers. We didn't achieve our goal by a lot, but we're going to get in practice and not be as careless with the ball as we were in that game, and just get better as a team."
On what parts of her game she has worked on improving the most this season …
"Rebounding and the defensive aspect of the game. Because I know going into the Big 12, one of the hardest people on the floor to guard is the "four" player on all teams, so I've been trying to play defense better than I previously was. I've made progress, but I've still got a long way to go."
