The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 21/22 Oklahoma State
No. 6 Women's Basketball preview: No. 21 Oklahoma State
02.16.2018 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns and Cowgirls meet in top-25 matchup Saturday in Stillwater.
No. 6/6 Texas Longhorns (21-4, 12-2 Big 12) at No. 21/22 Oklahoma State Cowgirls (18-7, 9-5 Big 12)
Time: Saturday, February 17, 2018 | 2 p.m. CT
Location: Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)
TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma (Mike Wolfe, Casey Kendrick)
Radio: 105.3 FM (David Garrett, Kathy Harston)
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio | Tickets
The No. 6/6 Texas women's basketball team travels to Stillwater, Okla., for a top-25 match-up with No. 21/22 Oklahoma State Saturday. Tip-off in Gallagher-Iba Arena is slated for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be televised by Fox Sports Oklahoma.
It begins a demanding three-day stretch for the Longhorns (21-4, 12-2 Big 12) who will face two top-25 opponents during that time. Texas plays host to No. 3 Baylor on Monday at 7 p.m. CT in Austin. The Longhorns are 4-3 this season against Associated Press Top-25 teams.
Texas looks to sweep the season series with Oklahoma State (18-7, 9-5 Big 12) for the fourth consecutive meeting. The Longhorns defeated the Cowgirls 84-79 in Austin on Jan. 3 in a game that Texas trailed by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter and was down 77-71 with 3:43 remaining. The Longhorns used a 9-0 run over a span of one minute and 26 seconds to regain the lead and hold off Oklahoma State for the victory.
"We play Oklahoma State Saturday and they have a very formidable front court," Texas head coach Karen Aston said. "They have the leading scorer and rebounder in our league. We're going to have to do a lot better because they have the leading scorer and second-leading scorer in their post and point guard. We're going to have to be tremendously better defensively."
Texas is the nation's No. 2 team in rebounding margin with a +12.0 edge on the glass. The Longhorns also rank 15th nationally in rebounds per game with 43.52. Texas has won the battle of the boards in 22 of 25 games this season and, dating back to the start of the 2015-16 campaign, UT has held the edge on the glass in 82 of 95 total games.
Senior guard Ariel Atkins leads the way for the Longhorns, averaging 14.5 points per game with a squad-best 67 steals. Atkins ranks among the top-20 in nine different Big 12 Conference statistical categories. Atkins ranks 38th nationally and second in the Big 12 in steals per game with 2.68.
Senior guard Brooke McCarty on Wednesday moved into the top-20 of UT's all-time scoring list and now has 1,472 career points. McCarty needs 14 more points to surpass Yulonda Wimbish (1,485 career points) for 19th place on the all-time scoring list. She also has 218 career three-pointers and needs three more to surpass Chassidy Fussell (220 career three-pointers) to move up to No. 3 on the school's all-time career three-pointers made list. McCarty averages 13.2 points per game with a squad-best 108 assists and leads the Big 12 Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.5.
Junior forward Jatarie White leads the Longhorns and ranks 15th in the Big 12 in steals per game at 5.8.
Texas and Oklahoma State meet for the 49th time in the history of the two programs with the Longhorns leading the all-time series 33-15, including an 11-10 mark when the game is played in Stillwater.
The Cowgirls enter Saturday's game with an 18-7 overall record and a 9-5 conference tally. Oklahoma State has won three of its last five games and is coming off an 87-45 loss to Baylor on Tuesday night.
Oklahoma State features the top-two scorers in the conference in seniors Kaylee Jensen and Loryn Goodwin. In conference games only, Jensen and Goodwin are averaging 21.7 points per game and 19.6 points per game. In all games combined, Goodwin averages 20.7 points per game and Jensen averages 18.6 points per game. Jensen is the conference's leading rebounder at 10.4 boards per game.
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 1,058 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 135-59 (.696) 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 18 wins against foes ranked in the Associated Press Top-25. The Longhorns are 4-3 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 82 of 95 total games. Texas has held the edge on the boards in 22 of 25 games this season and ranks second nationally in rebound margin (+12.0). The Longhorns are averaging 43.52 rebounds per game, which ranks 15th nationally. Four Texas players are averaging better than 4.5 rebounds per game on the season.
- Texas ranks 17th nationally in scoring offense (82.0 ppg) and seventh in scoring margin (+19.6).
- Senior guard Brooke McCarty has 218 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 three 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 38.7 percent (218-of-563). 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 34th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.5.
- Senior guard Ariel Atkins ranks fourth in program history in free-throw percentage with a 83.2 percent clip (257-of-309).
- Atkins ranks 38th nationally and second in the Big 12 in steals per game at 2.68.
- Atkins (111) and McCarty (129) have each played in more than 100 career games for the Longhorns.
- Junior guard Lashann Higgs ranks 32nd nationally in field-goal percentage at 55.9 percent.
