The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Georgia
No. 2 Women's Basketball preview: Georgia
12.02.2017 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns and Lady Bulldogs meet Sunday at 3 p.m. CT in Big 12/SEC Challenge.
No. 2/4 Texas Longhorns (6-0) at RV/RV Georgia Lady Bulldogs (7-0)
Time: Sunday, December 3, 2017 | 3 p.m. CT
Location: Athens, Ga. | Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
TV: SEC Network (Brenda VanLengen, Carol Ross)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Craig Way, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | WatchESPN | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets
The No. 2 Texas women's basketball team will face its first true road test of the season on Sunday, when it travels to Athens, Ga., to take on Georgia in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Tip-off in Stegeman Coliseum is slated for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by SEC Network.
The Longhorns (6-0) and Lady Bulldogs (7-0) are two of only 20 Division I women's basketball teams nationally to still be undefeated on the season. Georgia is receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches polls.
It is also a meeting between two of the most successful programs in NCAA Division I women's basketball history. The two squads have combined for nearly 2,000 victories in the history of their programs, as Texas has won 1,043 games all-time and Georgia has won 943. The Longhorns and Lady Bulldogs are two of only four programs nationally to have made 30 or more all-time NCAA Tournament appearances, as Georgia has advanced to 32 NCAA Tournaments, while Texas has earned 30 berths.
Just this week, Texas surpassed Georgia for second-most appearances in the Associated Press poll, all-time. The Longhorns have appeared in the AP poll for 523 weeks all-time, while the Lady Bulldogs have been ranked 522 times.
At No. 2 in the Associated Press ranking, Texas is the highest-ranked non-conference opponent to enter Stegeman Coliseum since the Longhorns were in Athens in 2004 – a game in which Texas also was ranked No. 2.
"It will be a phenomenal challenge for us and one we're looking forward to," Texas head coach Karen Aston said. "Our styles mirror each other quite a bit. I think it will be an entertaining game. They're [Georgia] really competitive and really good defensively. It will be a big challenge for us; they're very good."
The game will mark a reunion with former Texas point guard Celina Rodrigo (2012-16), who is in her second season as a graduate assistant on the Georgia staff. Rodrigo was a four-year starter for the Longhorns and was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection as a senior in 2016. She also was a four-time member of the Academic All-Big 12 teams. She played in 134 games for the Longhorns, which ranks seventh all-time at UT. She finished her career with 454 assists, which ranks sixth in school annals.
Texas is coming off an 88-54 win against Louisiana Tech on Thursday night in Austin, a game that commemorated the 40th Anniversary of the Frank C. Erwin Jr., Special Events Center. Senior point guard Brooke McCarty scored a game-high 15 points to complement five assists and a career-high five steals in 23 minutes of action.
Texas enters Sunday's game as the national leader in both scoring offense and scoring margin through six games this season. The Longhorns are averaging a nation-leading 95.0 points per game and defeating their opponents by an average of +36.5 points per game.
The Longhorns rank fifth nationally in rebound margin at +16.5 and have won the battle of the boards in all six games this season. Dating back to the start of the 2015-16 campaign, Texas has won the battle of the boards in 66 of 76 total games.
Four of Texas' five starters are averaging double-figure point totals, led by McCarty's squad-best 13.7 points per game. McCarty ranks second in the Big 12 Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0), fourth in assists per game (5.5), fifth in three-pointers per game (2.3) and sixth in steals per game (2.2). She has played in 111 career games on the Forty Acres with 90 career starts. McCarty has 195 career three-pointers, which ranks fourth all-time in program history.
Senior guard Ariel Atkins, the Big 12 Conference leader in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.5, follows with 12.8 points per game. Atkins ranks second in the Big 12 Conference in steals per game (3.0), third in three-point field-goal percentage (.529), sixth in field-goal percentage (.652) and sixth in assists per game (4.7).
Junior guard Lashann Higgs contributes 11.8 points per game, while junior center Jatarie White adds 11.2 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. Senior forward Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau is registering 6.0 rebounds per game to complement 7.2 points per game.
Texas and Georgia meet for the eighth time in the history of the two programs. The Lady Bulldogs lead the all-time series 5-2. The two squads last met on March 21, 2005, a game Georgia won 70-68 in the NCAA Second Round in Dallas, Texas. Texas is 145-72 (.668) all-time against teams in the current alignment of the Southeastern Conference.
Georgia is coming off a 79-44 win against Furman on Thursday evening. The Lady Bulldogs are 7-0 to start a season for the 14th time in program history and the first under head coach Joni Taylor. Junior forward Caliya Robinson leads the way for Georgia with team highs of 13.0 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game on the season. Robinson is one of just eight active players in the SEC to have recorded more than 500 career points, 400 career rebounds and 100 career assists. She was a preseason All-SEC selection and was named to the Katrina McClain Award Preseason Watch List.
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 1,043 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 120-55 (.686) 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.
- Over the past two seasons, Texas has earned 14 wins against foes ranked in the Associated Press Top-25.
- Through six games this season, Texas leads the nation in both scoring offense (95.0 ppg) and scoring margin (+36.5). Texas has scored 90 or more points in four of their six games this season.
- As a team, Texas ranks seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage with a 50.9 percent clip. The Longhorns are fifth nationally in rebound margin (+16.5) and fifth in the nation in assists per game (22.0).
- Senior guard Brooke McCarty has 195 career three-pointers made, which ranks fourth all-time in program history. McCarty needs five more treys to become just the fourth player in program history to make 200 or more shots from beyond the arc.
- McCarty ranks second in program history in three-point percentage at 41.0 percent (195-of-476) 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 sixth in program history in free-throw percentage with a 81.4 percent clip (206-of-254).
- Texas boasts the top-two players in terms of assist-to-turnover ratio in the Big 12 with Ariel Atkins (1st - 3.5) and Brooke McCarty (2nd - 3.0).
- Dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season, the Longhorns have won the rebound battle in 66 of 76 total games. Texas has held the edge on the boards in all six games this season. The Longhorns rank fifth nationally in rebound margin with a +16.5 advantage.
