The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 2/2 Baylor
No. 12 Women's Basketball preview: No. 2 Baylor [Feb. 6, 2017]
02.05.2017 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns and Lady Bears are both 12-0 in the Big 12 Conference.
No. 12/13 Texas Longhorns (18-4, 12-0 Big 12) at No. 2/2 Baylor Lady Bears (23-1, 12-0 Big 12)
Time: Monday, February 6, 2017 | 7 p.m. CT
Location: Waco, Texas | Ferrell Center (10,284)
TV: FS1 (Ron Thulin, Dan Hughes)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Craig Way, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio |
AUSTIN, Texas – The two 12-0 teams in the Big 12 Conference meet on Monday when No. 12/13 Texas travels to Waco to face No. 2/2 Baylor. Tip-off in the Ferrell Center is slated for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally by FS1.
The Longhorns (18-4, 12-0 Big 12 Conference) are looking for their first win against the Lady Bears since March 7, 2010. Texas and Baylor meet for the 93rd time in the history of the two programs. The Longhorns lead the all-time series between the two teams 57-35, but the Lady Bears have won 14 consecutive meetings in the series.
Texas is on a 16-game winning streak and, with Saturday's 63-58 win against Kansas State, tied the school record for the longest Big 12 Conference win streak at 12 games. The two teams in Monday's game feature the second and third longest active winning streaks in NCAA Division I women's basketball, as Baylor has won 21 consecutive games.
Junior guard Brooke McCarty leads the way for the Longhorns, averaging 13.8 points per game, which ranks 13th in the Big 12 Conference. She is the team's leader in three-point field goals made with 52 and she ranks second in the Big 12 Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.6. McCarty averages a squad-best 3.6 assists per game.
Junior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 13.2 points per game, which ranks 15th in the Big 12, and ranks third in the league in steals with 2.1 swipes per game. Atkins recently scored a career-high 26 points in a road win at Oklahoma State. Freshman guard/forward Joyner Holmes adds 12.2 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game. Among Big 12 Conference freshmen, she ranks first in both scoring and rebounding. She is a three-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week, including each of the last two weeks.
Senior center Kelsey Lang, who on Saturday became the 41st member of UT's 1,000-point club, adds 10.2 points per game and is the team leader in both rebounds (8.4 rpg) and blocks (2.2 bpg). Lang has seven double-doubles this season and she ranks third in the Big 12 in both rebounding and blocked shots.
The Lady Bears enter Monday's game with a 23-1 overall record and a 12-0 mark in Big 12 Conference games. Baylor leads the Big 12 in 16 major statistical categories, including scoring (89.9 ppg) and rebound margin (+22.5). Senior Alexis Jones leads the way for Baylor, averaging 14.7 points per game, while sophomore Kalani Brown is bringing down a squad-best 8.1 rebounds per game. Junior Kristy Wallace leads the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.3.
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 1,030 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 107-50 (.682) 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 58-6 (.906) when playing in the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns are 29-2 (.935) at home over the past two seasons.
• Texas has won 16 consecutive games, which is the nation's third-longest active winning streak.
• The Longhorns have won 12 consecutive Big 12 Conference games and are one victory shy of setting the school record for consecutive Big 12 wins at 13.
• Texas has won the rebound battle in 20 of its 22 games so far this season and holds a rebound margin of +11.2. The Longhorns rank fourth nationally in rebound margin.
• The Longhorns rank 18th nationally in blocked shots per game with 5.7 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 has played in 126 games in her UT career. She needs to play in seven 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.
• Lang currently ranks seventh in UT school history with 160 career blocks.
• Junior guard Brooke McCarty has 156 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 .403 clip (156-of-387). Current Texas assistant Jamie Carey holds the school record in three-point field goal percentage at .418.
• McCarty also is nearing the 1,000-point plateau for her UT career. She has 978 career points and needs 22 more to reach the century mark.
