No. 8 Women's Basketball preview: Maine

No. 8/8 Texas Longhorns (26-6) vs. Maine Black Bears (23-9)
NCAA First Round
Time: Saturday, March 17, 2018 | 5 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)
TV: ESPN2 (Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors)
Radio: 105.3 FM (Craig Way or Dave Garrett, Fran Harris)

The No. 8 and second-seeded Texas women's basketball team begins its NCAA Tournament quest on Saturday when it plays host to 15th-seeded Maine at the Frank Erwin Center. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. CT and the game will be nationally televised by ESPN2.

Texas is making its 31st all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which ranks fourth-most of any program in NCAA history. The Longhorns are one of just five programs to make 30 or more NCAA Tournament appearances all-time. Texas is 40-29 (.580) all-time in NCAA Tournament play.

The Longhorns are a No. 2 seed for the fifth time in program history and hold a record of 13-5 (.722) all-time when competing in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed.

Texas (26-6) ranks 16th in the nation in scoring offense at 80.7 points per game and 12th in scoring margin at +17.0. The Longhorns have scored 2,853 points on the season and have the chance to become just the fifth team in program history to score 3,000 points in a year.

Texas has held the rebounding edge in 27 of 32 games this season and 87 times in the last 103 games. The Longhorns rank fourth nationally in rebound margin at +10.4 and are 13th in the nation in rebounds per game at 43.0. Texas' rebounding average currently ranks tied for eighth on the school's single-season rebounds per game list at 43.0 boards per game.

Texas is led by its fourth-year seniors Ariel Atkins and Brooke McCarty. The duo holds a record of 106-31 (.773) since the two first stepped foot on the court for the Longhorns at the beginning of the 2014-15 campaign. The two have led Texas to four NCAA Tournament appearances, three NCAA Sweet 16 showings and one NCAA Elite Eight appearance.

Atkins, a First-Team All-Big 12 Conference selection who ranks in the top-20 in nine different Big 12 statistical categories, leads her team with 14.8 points per game. Atkins ranks 34th nationally and second in the Big 12 in steals per game at 2.66, while also ranking 44th nationally in field-goal percentage at 53.1 percent. Atkins has scored in double figures 78 times in her Texas career, including 26 of 32 games this season.

McCarty, a First-Team All-Big 12 Conference selection, follows with 13.9 points per game. She is the Big 12 Conference leader in assist-to-turnover ratio and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists per game at 4.5. McCarty has played more minutes than any other player in University of Texas history with 4,068 career minutes played. She also is second on the school's all-time list for career three-pointers made with 239. McCarty needs nine more assists to move onto UT's all-time career top-10 list for assists.

Junior guard Lashann Higgs, a Second Team All-Big 12 selection, adds 12.8 points per game, while junior center Jatarie White adds 12.8 points per game. White and sophomore guard/forward Joyner Holmes are bringing down a team-leading 6.0 rebounds per game.

Texas and Maine meet for the second time in the history of the two programs. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 1-0. In their only previous meeting, Texas defeated Maine, 72-34, in the Bell Atlantic Tournament in Piscataway, N.J. on December 29, 1992.

The Black Bears enter Saturday's contest with a 23-9 overall record. Maine advanced to its eighth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2004 by winning the America East Tournament. The Black Bears, who are 2-7 all-time in NCAA postseason play, have won six consecutive games and 15 of their last 16. Maine ranks 18th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 55.8 points per game. Offensively, Maine ranks second in the America East Conference with 65.8 points per game. The Black Bears lead their league in three-point percentage (33.3) and three-pointers made (253).

Sophomore forward Blanca Millian, the America East Tournament Most Outstanding Player and a First-Team All-America East selection, ranks second in the America East Conference with 17.8 points per game. She has recorded double-figure point totals in each of Maine's last 31 games, including 20 or more points on 13 occasions. She also ranks 12th nationally with 97 total steals. Junior guard Tanesha Sutton leads her team in rebounding with 7.1 boards per game – fourth-best in the America East – and has scored in double figures in each of her last eight outings.

QUICK NOTES

Texas women's basketball is in the midst of its 44th season of intercollegiate basketball.
Texas ranks fifth all-time in NCAA history with 1,063 all-time victories.
The Longhorns have made 31 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances, which is fourth-most of any NCAA D-I Women's Basketball program.
Texas head coach Karen Aston is 140-61 (.697) 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.
This year's Texas team tied the school record for most Big 12 wins in a season at 15. The 2002-03, 2015-16 and 2016-17 squads also posted 15 Big 12 victories.
Entering this year's NCAA Tournament, 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 19 wins against foes ranked in the Associated Press Top-25. The Longhorns are 5-5 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 87 of 102 total games. Texas has held the edge on the boards in 27 of 32 games this season and ranks fourth nationally in rebound margin (+10.4). The Longhorns are averaging 43.0 rebounds per game, which ranks 13th nationally.
Texas' rebounding margin of +10.4 ranks fourth in program history. The school record for rebound margin in a single season is +12.3.
Texas ranks 16th nationally in scoring offense (80.7 ppg) and 12th in scoring margin (+17.0).
Three Texas players have played in 100 or more career games - Brooke McCarty (136), Ariel Atkins (118) and Lashann Higgs (100).
Senior guard Brooke McCarty has 239 career three-pointers made, which ranks second all-time in program history. She is one of only four players in school annals to make 200 or more career threes.
McCarty ranks fourth in program history in three-point percentage at 39.6 percent (239-of-603). 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 is the program's all-time career leader in total minutes played with 4,068. She is the first player in program history to eclipse the 4,000 minutes played mark.
McCarty leads the Big 12 Conference and is 19th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.71.
Senior guard Ariel Atkins ranks fourth in program history in free-throw percentage with a 82.9 percent clip (272-of-328).
Atkins ranks 34th nationally and second in the Big 12 in steals per game at 2.66.
Atkins ranks 44th nationally in field-goal percentage at 53.1 percent.

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Players Mentioned

Ariel Atkins

Lashann Higgs

Joyner Holmes

Brooke McCarty

Jatarie White

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics