The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 19/19 Oklahoma
No. 8 Women's Basketball preview: No. 19 Oklahoma [Feb. 18, 2017]
02.17.2017 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns seek first win in Norman since February 2010.
No. 8/8 Texas Longhorns (21-4, 14-0 Big 12) at No. 19/19 Oklahoma Sooners (20-6, 11-3 Big 12)
Time: Saturday, February 18, 2017 | 1 p.m. CT
Location: Norman, Okla. | Lloyd Noble Center (11,562)
TV: FSN (Ron Thulin, Brenda VanLengen)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Roger Wallace, Kathy Harston)
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio |
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 8/8 Texas women's basketball team seeks its first win in the Lloyd Noble Center since Feb. 3, 2010 when it travels to Norman on Saturday to face the No. 19/19 Oklahoma Sooners. Tip off is slated for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net.
The Longhorns (21-4, 14-0 Big 12 Conference) are seeking their 15th league victory of the season, which would tie the school record for most Big 12 Conference wins in a season at 15 with the 2002-03 and 2015-16 squads.
Texas' active win streak of 19 games ranks second nationally to UConn's 100-game active win streak. The Longhorns are also 14-0 to start Big 12 Conference play for the first time in program history. The 19-game win streak is Texas' longest since a 24-game win streak during the 1988-89 season. It ties the 10th-longest winning streak in program history.
Oklahoma is the 10th team that the Longhorns will face this season that is ranked among the Associated Press' Top-25 at the time of the game. Texas is 5-4 against Top-25 teams this season, and has won five consecutive Top-25 games. In the past two seasons combined, the Longhorns are 12-9 (.571) against Top-25 opposition.
"I think Saturday's game against Oklahoma will be a typical Red River Rivalry," Texas head coach Karen Aston said. "We're both playing for a lot, so it should be an intense game, it will be one that will be a lot of fun for the fans and our team always enjoys playing Oklahoma. Right now, this is more about us just trying to get ready for the next game and have the same kind of focus that we've had up to this point."
Junior point guard Brooke McCarty leads the Longhorns and is coming off a 29-point, 50-minute performance at Florida State on Monday night. McCarty leads the Longhorns and ranks eighth in the Big 12 Conference in scoring with 14.5 points per game. She is second in the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage (.448) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5). McCarty ranks seventh in the Big 12 with 3.8 assists per game, and also adds 3.4 rebounds per game.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 13.6 points per game, which ranks 14th in the Big 12 Conference. She also ranks fourth in the league in steals with 2.0 steals per game. Freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes, the reigning espnW National Player of the Week and the USBWA National Freshman of the Week adds 12.6 points per game, a squad-best 8.3 rebounds per game and 1.3 blocks per game. She also has eight double-doubles on the year.
Senior center Kelsey Lang is the team's blocks leader at 2.2 blocks per game and is second on the team in rebounding with 8.2 boards per game. She also has seven double-doubles on the year.
Texas and Oklahoma meet for the 54th time in the history of the two programs. The Longhorns lead the all-time series between the two teams 29-24 and have won five of the last seven meetings. The Sooners lead the series 14-8 when the game is played in Norman and Oklahoma has won six consecutive meetings in the series on its home court.
The Sooners enter Saturday's game with a 20-6 overall record and an 11-3 mark in Big 12 Conference play. Oklahoma is coming off a 64-56 win at Texas Tech last Saturday in Lubbock. Senior guard Peyton Little leads her team in scoring with 13.1 points per game and has knocked down a squad-best 43 three-pointers. Junior Vionise Pierre-Louis is the team's leading rebounder at 8.3 boards per game, which is tied for third in the Big 12 Conference.
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 1,033 all-time victories.
• The Longhorns consistently play a rigorous non-conference schedule. The Longhorns' schedule this season consisted 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 110-50 (.688) 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 59-6 (.908) when playing in the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns are 30-2 (.938) at home over the past two seasons.
• Texas has won 19 consecutive games, which is the nation's second-longest active winning streak. That is tied for the 10th-longest winning streak in program history.
• This year's team holds the UT school record for most consecutive Big 12 conference victories at 14.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in 23 of its 25 games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +11.1. The Longhorns rank fourth nationally in rebound margin.
• The Longhorns rank eighth nationally in blocked shots per game with 6.0 blocks per game.
• Over the past two seasons, Texas is 12-9 (.571) against foes ranked in the Associated Press Top-25, including a 5-4 mark this season.
• Senior center Kelsey Lang has played in 129 games in her UT career. She needs to play in four more games to move into the all-time Texas top-10 list in career games played. She recently became the 41st member of the school's all-time 1,000-point club and has 1,021 career points at UT.
• Lang currently ranks seventh in UT school history with 166 career blocks.
• Junior guard Brooke McCarty has 164 career three-pointers made, which ranks seventh all-time in UT history.
• McCarty ranks second in school history in three-point field goal percentage with a .406 clip (164-of-404). Current Texas assistant Jamie Carey holds the school record in three-point field goal percentage at .418.
• McCarty eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau on Feb. 6 vs. Baylor and became the 42nd player in school history to do so. She has 1,036 career points.
