The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 3/3 Baylor
No. 6 Women's Basketball preview: No. 3 Baylor
01.23.2018 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns and the Lady Bears meet Thursday at 6 p.m. CT in Waco on ESPN2.
No 6/6 Texas Longhorns (15-3, 6-1 Big 12) at No. 3/3 Baylor Lady Bears (17-1, 7-0 Big 12)
Time: Thursday, January 25, 2018 | 6 p.m. CT
Location: Waco, Texas | Ferrell Center (15,096)
TV: ESPN2 (Adam Amin, Rebecca Lobo, Kara Lawson, Holly Rowe)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Craig Way, Fran Harris)
Game Notes | WatchESPN | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets
The rivalry is renewed between Texas and Baylor – two schools that are located 100 miles apart and boast a rich tradition in women's basketball. The No. 6 Longhorns and the No. 3 Lady Bears meet on Thursday in Waco's Ferrell Center. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be nationally televised by ESPN2.
It is a meeting between the top-two teams in the Big 12 Conference standings as Baylor enters the game with a 17-1 overall record and a 7-0 mark in league play, while Texas is 15-3 and 6-1 in the Big 12. The Longhorns are coming off a 90-39 win against Texas Tech last Saturday in Lubbock. The 51-point win marked the largest margin of victory against a Big 12 Conference opponent in program history.
The Longhorns are led by junior guard Lashann Higgs, who is averaging 15.2 points per game and 1.7 steals per game overall. In seven conference games this season, Higgs is averaging an impressive 20.3 points per game, shooting 66.3 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line. She has also swiped 17 steals in league play. In conference games only, Higgs ranks among the Big 12's top-10 in five different statistical categories, including points per game, steals per game, field-goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and free-throw percentage.
Senior guard Ariel Atkins follows with 15.0 points per game and is tied for the team rebounding lead with 5.9 boards per game. Atkins has recorded a squad-best 50 steals this season and is shooting 54.9 percent from the field. All games combined, Atkins ranks among the Big 12's top-20 in eight different statistical categories, including second in steals per game (2.8) and free-throw percentage (.863).
Senior point guard Brooke McCarty is the Big 12 Conference leader in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7. She averages 13.4 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game and 5.2 assists per game. McCarty is playing a squad-best 30.8 minutes per game and has made a team-high 26 three-pointers on the year.
Junior center Jatarie White, along with Atkins, leads the team in rebounding at 5.9 boards per game. White also contributes 10.7 points per game. Senior forward Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau contributes 5.2 rebounds per game.
Texas is 3-2 this season against Associated Press Top-25 squads. Since the start of the 2015-16 campaign, the Longhorns have earned 17 victories against AP Top-25 teams. Texas is 185-237 (.438) all-time against ranked opponents, including an 80-138 (.367) tally against AP Top-10 foes.
It marks the 95th meeting between the two teams in the history of the programs. The Longhorns lead the all-time series. 58-36. Texas beat Baylor 85-79 in Waco last season, snapping a 14-game losing streak to the Lady Bears, but Baylor won 70-67, in Austin. The Longhorns seek to win back-to-back games in Waco for the first time since 2009 and 2010.
Baylor enters Thursday's contest with an undefeated record in Big 12 play. The Lady Bears are coming off a 75-50 win against Kansas State on Saturday in Waco. Baylor ranks second nationally in field-goal percentage at 51.5 and is also the national leader in field-goal percentage defense at 30.2. This will also be a match-up of the top-two teams nationally in rebounding margin as Baylor ranks first at +19.7, while Texas is second at +14.2.
Junior center Kalani Brown is the national leader in field-goal percentage at 70.6 percent. She is leading her team in points per game at 21.7, while also contributing 9.3 rebounds per game and blocking 22 shots this season. Sophomore forward Lauren Cox has registered 15.1 points per game, a team-best 9.9 rebounds per game and is the Big 12 leader in blocked shots per game at 2.65.
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 1,052 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 129-58 (.690) 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 77 of 88 total games. Texas has held the edge on the boards in 17 of 18 games this season and ranks second nationally in rebound margin (+14.2). The Longhorns are averaging 44.79 rebounds per game, which ranks eighth nationally.
- Texas ranks eighth nationally in scoring offense (84.7 ppg) and eighth in scoring margin (+21.6).
- Senior guard Brooke McCarty has 207 career three-pointers made, which ranks fourth all-time in program history. She is one of only four players in school annals to make 200 or more career three-pointers. McCarty needs 14 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 39.2 percent (207-of-528). 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.
- McCarty leads the Big 12 Conference and is 24th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7.
- Senior guard Ariel Atkins ranks fourth in program history in free-throw percentage with a 82.8 percent clip (241-of-291).
- Atkins (104) and McCarty (122) have each played in more than 100 career games for the Longhorns.
- Junior guard Lashann Higgs ranks 19th nationally in field-goal percentage at 59.6 percent.
