The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 12/10 Florida State
No. 8 Women's Basketball preview: No. 12 Florida State
12.15.2017 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns and Seminoles meet in top-15 matchup on Sunday in the Frank Erwin Center.
No. 8/8 Texas Longhorns (8-1) vs. No. 12/10 Florida State Seminoles (10-0)
Time: Sunday, December 17, 2017 | 11:30 a.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)
TV: FS1 (Ron Thulin, Brenda VanLengen)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Craig Way, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets
It's a top-15 matchup at the Frank Erwin Center on Sunday as No. 8 Texas plays host to No. 12 Florida State presented by Mido Swiss Watches. Tip-off is slated for 11:30 a.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by FS1. The visiting Seminoles are one of only 12 remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I women's basketball.
The first 1,000 fans that visit the display at section 38 will get a free Texas women's basketball "Bad to the Bun" t-shirt, featuring 2017 Big 12 Player of the Year Brooke McCarty. Following the game, the Texas coaches and student-athletes invite kids to improve their basketball skills by participating in the annual Longhorn Kids Clinic. The hour-long clinic is open to all youth, eighth grade and under, and begins approximately 10 minutes following the game. Parents and guardians are encouraged to pre-register participants by e-mailing name, age and grade to matthew.hay@athletics.utexas.edu. Participants and chaperones are required to have a ticket to the game.
Texas (8-1) is coming off a 68-44 win against Northwestern State on Wednesday night at the Erwin Center. The Longhorns are 66-8 (.892) inside the Erwin Center since the start of the 2013-14 season and 37-4 (.902) at home since the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign. Texas is 5-0 in the Frank Erwin Center this season.
Texas has won the battle of the boards in eight of nine games this season and, dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season, UT has held the edge on the glass in 68 of 79 total games. The Longhorns rank 11th nationally in rebounds per game (45.89) and seventh in rebound margin (+13.2).
Florida State will be the second Associated Press Top-25 team that the Longhorns will face this season. Texas is 182-236 (.435) all-time against teams ranked in the AP Top-25, including a 7-7 mark last season and an 0-1 tally this year.
The game features two of the nation's top-10 scoring teams. Florida State ranks seventh nationally in points per game (88.6), while Texas is eighth (88.2). The Seminoles is fourth nationally in scoring margin (+30.2), while the Longhorns are fifth (+29.3).
"I think that Florida State will be very excited about coming in here on Sunday morning," Texas head coach Karen Aston said. "It was a terrific match-up last year. I'm not sure that we should have won that game when you look back at the stats and the film, but I thought we persevered. I think they will come in here with an intention of knocking us off on our home court. So we're going to have to be really tough. We're going to have to be solid, fundamental and highly competitive."
Senior guard Ariel Atkins leads the way for the Longhorns, averaging 14.2 points per game. She ranks 13th nationally in field-goal percentage with a 64.0 percent clip from the floor and is third in the Big 12 Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.54. Atkins is second in the Big 12 in three-point percentage (.560), third in steals per game (2.7) and 13th in assists per game (3.7).
Senior point guard Brooke McCarty follows with 12.8 points per game, is shooting a squad-best 92.9 percent from the free-throw line, has made a team-best 15 three-pointers and has dished out a squad-best 37 assists. McCarty ranks sixth in the Big 12 Conference in assists per game (4.6), fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) and sixth in steals per game (2.3).
Junior center Jatarie White contributes 11.8 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game, while junior guard Lashann Higgs adds 11.4 points per game. Senior forward Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau contributes 5.3 rebounds per game.
Texas and Florida State meet for the third time in the history of the two programs and for the second consecutive season. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 2-0 after a 92-88 double-overtime win last season in Tallahassee. Texas is 21-13 (.618) all-time against teams in the current alignment of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Seminoles enter Sunday's game with a 10-0 record and are coming off a 77-66 win against Arizona State last Sunday in Tallahassee. Florida State has been exceptional at controlling the basketball this season, recording fewer than 15 turnovers in each of its 10 games. The Seminoles have scored 70 or more points in each of their 10 games this season, including four games with 90 or more points, and have shot 40 percent or better in all 10 games this year.
Senior forward Shakayla Thomas leads the way for Florida State, averaging 20.6 points per game and shooting 56.7 percent from the field. She ranks 26th nationally in scoring. Senior center Chatrice White is averaging a squad-best 8.1 rebounds per game, while senior guard AJ Alix – a transfer from TCU – is dishing out a team-high 7.7 assists per game.
QUICK NOTES
- Texas women's basketball is in the midst of its 44th season of intercollegiate basketball.
- Texas is one of just eight programs in NCAA Division I women's basketball history to reach 1,000 all-time wins. Texas ranks fifth all-time in NCAA history with 1,045 all-time victories.
- The Longhorns have made 30 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances, which is fourth-most of any program in NCAA D-I Women's Basketball history.
- Texas head coach Karen Aston is 122-56 (.685) now in her sixth 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.
- The 2016-17 Longhorns tied the school record for most Big 12 wins in a season at 15. The 2002-03 and 2015-16 squads also posted 15 Big 12 victories.
- Texas has advanced to three consecutive NCAA Sweet 16s for the first time since the 2002, 2003 and 2004 campaigns.
- Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Texas has earned 14 wins against foes ranked in the Associated Press Top-25.
- Through nine games this season, Texas ranks fifth nationally in scoring margin (+29.3) and eighth in the nation in scoring offense (88.2 points per game).
- Dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season, the Longhorns have won the rebound battle in 68 of 79 total games. Texas has held the edge on the boards in eight of nine games this season and ranks seventh nationally in rebound margin (+13.2).
- Senior guard Brooke McCarty has 196 career three-pointers made, which ranks fourth all-time in program history. McCarty needs four more treys to become just the fourth player in program history to make 200 or more shots from beyond the arc.
- McCarty ranks fourth in program history in three-point percentage at 40.3 percent (196-of-486) and is one of just four players in program history (Jamie Carey, Kathleen Nash and Vicki Hall are the others) to shoot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc for her career. Carey is the school's all-time three-point field goal percentage leader at 41.8 percent.
- Senior guard Ariel Atkins ranks fifth in program history in free-throw percentage with a 82.4 percent clip (215-of-261).
- Atkins ranks 13th nationally in field-goal percentage with a 64.0 percent clip. She was 6-for-6 from the field in Wednesday's win against Northwestern State.
- Atkins has played in 95 career games in a Texas uniform. She and McCarty (113 games) are the active career leaders in games played.
