The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 9 Women's Basketball preview: Texas Tech
01.19.2018 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns and the Lady Raiders meet at 3 p.m. CT Saturday in Lubbock.
No. 9/9 Texas Longhorns (14-3, 5-1 Big 12) vs. Texas Tech Lady Raiders (7-11, 1-6)
Time: Saturday, January 20, 2018 | 3 p.m. CT
Location: Lubbock, Texas | United Supermarkets Arena (15,098)
TV: FSN (Tracy Warren, Missy Heidrick)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Roger Wallace, Kathy Harston)
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets
The No. 9 Texas women's basketball team returns to Big 12 Conference play on Saturday when it travels to Lubbock, Texas, to take on Texas Tech. Tip-off in United Supermarkets Arena is slated for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast by Fox Sports Net. (Where to watch in your area)
The two teams will resume the longest-standing rivalry in Texas women's basketball history as it will be the 99th meeting between the Longhorns and Lady Raiders. Texas leads the all-time series 69-29 (.704), including a 23-17 edge when the game is played in Lubbock. The Longhorns have won the past eight meetings between the two teams.
Texas (13-4, 5-1 Big 12 Conference) is coming off a 75-71 loss to No. 1 UConn on Monday night. The Longhorns held the Huskies to a season low in points and their smallest margin of victory on the season.
Texas is the nation's No. 2 team in rebounding margin with a +13.9 edge on the glass. The Longhorns also rank 12th nationally in rebounds per game with 44.76. Texas has won the battle of the boards in 16 of 17 games this season and, dating back to the start of the 2015-16 campaign, UT has held the edge on the glass in 76 of 87 total games. Three Texas players (junior center Jatarie White - 6.1, senior guard Ariel Atkins - 5.8, and senior forward Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau - 5.4) are averaging better than 5.0 rebounds per game for the Longhorns this season.
Texas is a team with great balance. Four players are averaging double-figure scoring totals, led by junior Lashann Higgs' 14.9 points per game. Five different players have led the team in scoring this season and eight different players have led the team in rebounding this year. Only one player (senior guard Brooke McCarty) is averaging more than 30 minutes played per game (31.1).
In six conference games, Higgs is averaging 20.5 points per game, shooting 67.2 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line. She has made a team-best eight three-pointers and 15 steals in league play.
Texas Tech enters Saturday's game with a 7-11 overall record and a 1-6 mark in Big 12 play. The Lady Raiders are under the direction of interim head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller, who took over after the new year. Texas Tech is coming off a 68-56 win at Kansas on Wednesday night. Senior center Jada Terry leads the Lady Raiders in both points per game (10.8) and rebounds per game (6.3).
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 1,051 all-time victories.
- The Longhorns have made 30 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances, which is fourth-most of any NCAA D-I Women's Basketball program.
- Texas head coach Karen Aston is 128-58 (.688) 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 17 wins against foes ranked in the Associated Press Top-25. The Longhorns are 3-2 against AP Top-25 teams this season.
- Dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season, the Longhorns have won the rebound battle in 76 of 87 total games. Texas has held the edge on the boards in 16 of 17 games this season and ranks second nationally in rebound margin (+13.9). The Longhorns are averaging 44.76 rebounds per game, which ranks 12th nationally.
- Texas ranks 13th nationally in scoring offense (84.4 ppg) and 13th in scoring margin (+19.8).
- Senior guard Brooke McCarty has 205 career three-pointers made, which ranks fourth all-time in program history. She is one of only four players in school annals to accomplish that milestone. McCarty needs 16 more three-pointers to surpass Chassidy Fussell (220 career threes) for third place all-time.
- McCarty ranks fifth in program history in three-point percentage at 39.1 percent (205-of-524). Just three players in program history (Jamie Carey, Kathleen Nash and Vicki Hall) have shot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc for their careers. Carey is the school's all-time three-point field goal percentage leader at 41.8 percent.
- Senior guard Brooke McCarty leads the Big 12 Conference in free-throw percentage at 93.1 percent (27-of-29).
- McCarty leads the Big 12 Conference and is 29th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.65.
- Senior guard Ariel Atkins ranks fifth in program history in free-throw percentage with a 82.5 percent clip (235-of-285).
- Atkins (103) and McCarty (121) have each played in more than 100 career games for the Longhorns.
- Junior guard Lashann Higgs ranks 16th nationally in field-goal percentage at 59.5 percent.
