The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
02.03.2017 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns looking to tie school record for longest Big 12 winning streak.
No. 12/13 Texas Longhorns (17-4, 11-0 Big 12) vs. RV/RV Kansas State Wildcats (17-6, 7-4 Big 12)
Time: Saturday, February 4, 2017 | 5 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)
TV: Longhorn Network (Alex Loeb, Fran Harris, Tyler Denning)
Radio: 104.9 FM The Horn (Chad Hastings, Kathy Harston)
Game Notes | WatchESPN | Live Stats | Live Audio |
AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 12/13 University of Texas women's basketball team looks to tie the school record for longest Big 12 Conference win streak at 12 games when the Longhorns play host to Kansas State on Saturday. Tip-off in the Frank Erwin Center is slated for 5 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by Longhorn Network.
The Longhorns (17-4, 11-0 Big 12 Conference) are on a 15-game win streak overall entering Saturday's game. With a win on Saturday against Kansas State, Texas would tie the program record for most consecutive Big 12 Conference wins at 12. The Longhorns won a program-best 12 consecutive Big 12 games from Jan. 29, 2003 to Jan. 10, 2004.
Saturday's game marks the annual "Shoot For A Cure" game for the Longhorns, to help raise awareness and search for a cure for breast cancer. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to Saturday's game, and to all games in the month of February. Pink shirts will be tossed into the crowd, and St. David's hosts a table on the concourse featuring pink grab-bag items as well as informational material. Survivors interested in participating in a rally line, encouraging the Longhorns as they leave the tunnel to take on the Wildcats, should email Matthew.Hay@athletics.utexas.edu. Additionally, survivors are encouraged to visit the Frank Erwin Center box office on Saturday to claim a free ticket to the game.
The first 100 UT students in attendance inside entrance E will receive a Longhorn winter hat. After the game, fans are invited to the Lone Star Room for a Postgame Fast Break with selected coaches and players.
"When you watch [Kansas State] on film or watch the scores, you see a team that is very capable of winning on your home court," Texas head coach Karen Aston said. "Our players have a lot of respect for K-State and the way that they play the game. They're experienced, they have multiple ways of scoring, and their defense presents problems for us also."
Four Texas players are averaging double-digit point totals on the season, led by junior point guard Brooke McCarty, who ranks 11th in the Big 12 in scoring with 14.0 points per game. She is seventh in the Big 12 in assists with 3.7 and second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.6. McCarty recently moved up to seventh on the school's all-time career three-pointers made list with 154. McCarty currently has 967 career points and needs 33 more to reach 1,000 for her career.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 13.6 points per game, which ranks 13th in the Big 12, and is fourth in the league in steals with 2.1 per game. Atkins is coming off a career-high 26 points in the Longhorns' last game at Oklahoma State.
Freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes follows with 11.8 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game. Holmes is a three-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week selection, including the last two weeks. Among Big 12 freshmen, Holmes ranks first in both scoring and rebounding, and also has five double-doubles on the year.
Senior center Kelsey Lang is close to becoming the 41st person in University of Texas school history to reach 1,000 career points. She has 992 and needs eight more to eclipse the century mark. Lang averages 10.2 points per game and is the team leader in rebounds per game (8.4) and blocks per game (2.1). Lang ranks fourth in the Big 12 in rebounds and third in blocked shots.
Texas and Kansas State meet for the 33rd time in the history of the two programs with the Longhorns leading the all-time series 18-14. Texas holds an 11-3 edge when the game is played in Austin and has won three consecutive meetings in the series.
Kansas State enters Saturday's game with a 17-6 overall record and a 7-4 mark in the Big 12 Conference. The Wildcats are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Coaches poll. Kansas State has won two games in a row and is coming off a 65-53 victory against Texas Tech on Wednesday. Senior center Breanna Lewis is averaging a team-high 14.3 points on a .574 field goal percentage and 8.5 rebounds. She also paces the squad with 1.8 blocks per game.
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 1,029 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 106-50 (.679) 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 15 consecutive games, which is the nation's fourth-longest active winning streak.
• The Longhorns have won 11 consecutive Big 12 Conference games and are one victory shy of tying the school record for consecutive Big 12 wins at 12.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in 19 of its 21 games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +11.6. The Longhorns rank fourth nationally in rebound margin.
• The Longhorns rank 18th nationally in blocked shots per game with 5.6 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 is eight points away from becoming the 41st member of UT's 1,000-point club. Lang has 992 career points.
• Lang currently ranks eighth in UT school history with 155 career blocks. She needs two more blocks to surpass Joy Williams (156) for seventh place all-time.
• Lang has played in 125 games in her UT career. She needs to play in eight more games to move into the all-time Texas top-10 list in career games played.
• Junior guard Brooke McCarty has 154 career three-pointers made, which ranks seventh all-time in UT history.
• McCarty ranks fourth in school history in three-point field goal percentage with a .401 clip (154-of-384). 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.
• McCarty also is nearing the 1,000-point plateau for her UT career. She has 967 career points and needs 33 more to reach the century mark.
