The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 8 Women's Basketball preview: No. 21 West Virginia
02.04.2018 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns and the Mountaineers meet Monday at 6 p.m. CT on FS1.
No. 8/8 Texas Longhorns (18-4, 9-2 Big 12) at No. 21/21 West Virginia Mountaineers (17-6, 9-3 Big 12)
Time: Monday, February 5, 2018 | 6 p.m. CT
Location: Morgantown, W.Va. | WVU Coliseum (14,000)
TV: FS1 (Ted Emrich, Dan Hughes)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Craig Way, Kathy Harston)
Game Notes | Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio
The No. 8 Texas women's basketball team will face its second ranked opponent in three days when it travels to Morgantown, W.Va., to face No. 21 West Virginia on Monday. Tip-off in WVU Coliseum is slated for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be nationally televised by FS1.
The Longhorns (18-4, 9-2 Big 12 Conference) are coming off a 92-65 win against No. 22 TCU on Saturday in Austin. Texas has won four of its last five games entering Monday night's matchup.
Texas is the nation's No. 2 team in rebounding margin with a +12.6 edge on the glass. The Longhorns also rank 11th nationally in rebounds per game with 44.0. Texas has won the battle of the boards in 20 of 22 games this season and, dating back to the start of the 2015-16 campaign, UT has held the edge on the glass in 80 of 92 total games. Five Texas players are averaging better than 4.5 rebounds per game on the season.
Senior guard Ariel Atkins leads the way for the Longhorns, averaging a squad-best 14.9 points per game. She ranks in the top-20 in nine different Big 12 statistical categories, including the impressive feat of points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, steals per game and blocks per game. Atkins ranks 26th nationally and second in the Big 12 in steals per game at 2.86.
Junior guard Lashann Higgs follows with 14.4 points per game and is shooting a team-high 57.6 percent from the field, which ranks 24th in the nation. Senior point guard Brooke McCarty contributes 13.2 points per game and is the Big 12 Conference leader in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.54.
Atkins is the team's leading rebounder with 5.9 boards per game, while junior forward Jatarie White is bringing down 5.7 boards per game.
Texas is 186-238 all-time against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top-25. The Longhorns are 4-3 against top-25 teams this season and have earned 18 wins against AP top-25 squads since the start of the 2015-16 campaign. Texas head coach Karen Aston is 25-34 (.424) against AP top-25 opponents during her tenure as head coach of the Longhorns.
Texas and West Virginia meet for the 16th time in the history of the two programs with the Longhorns leading the all-time series 9-6. Texas has won six of the last seven meetings, including a 79-58 win against the Mountaineers on Dec. 31, 2017 in Austin. The two teams first met on March 17, 2012, an NCAA first-round game that West Virginia won 68-55. Texas is 2-3 when the game is played in Morgantown and has won two consecutive games there.
The Mountaineers enter Monday's game with a 17-6 overall record and a 5-6 mark in Big 12 Conference play. West Virginia is coming off a 76-57 loss at Oklahoma on Saturday. All five West Virginia starters are currently averaging in double-figure scoring, including Muldrow (19.9), Naomi Davenport (16.7),Katrina Pardee (12.1), Chania Ray (11.0) and Kristina King (10.0).
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 1,055 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 132-59 (.691) 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 80 of 92 total games. Texas has held the edge on the boards in 20 of 22 games this season and ranks second nationally in rebound margin (+12.6). The Longhorns are averaging 44.0 rebounds per game, which ranks 11th nationally. Five Texas players are averaging better than 4.5 rebounds per game on the season.
- Texas ranks 15th nationally in scoring offense (82.5 ppg) and seventh in scoring margin (+19.8).
- Senior guard Brooke McCarty has 215 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 six 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 (215-of-550). 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 32nd nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.54.
- Senior guard Ariel Atkins ranks fourth in program history in free-throw percentage with a 83.1 percent clip (255-of-307).
- Atkins ranks 26th nationally and second in the Big 12 in steals per game at 2.86.
- Atkins (108) and McCarty (126) have each played in more than 100 career games for the Longhorns.
- Junior guard Lashann Higgs ranks 24th nationally in field-goal percentage at 57.6 percent.
