The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
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North Texas
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Women's Basketball downs UNT, 63-57
11.30.2019 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns play stingy defense in last four minutes to win in Rainbow Wahine Showdown
HONOLULU – Six straight points by Sug Sutton broke open a tie game, and Celeste Taylor's three free throws in the last half minute nailed down a 63-57 victory for the Texas Women's Basketball team over North Texas on Saturday afternoon in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Texas (4-3) received double-double performances from Charli Collier, who scored 21 points and gathered 14 rebounds, and Joyner Holmes, who scored 10 and grabbed 10 boards. Taylor scored 12 and Sutton 10.
It was Holmes' seventh consecutive double-double, one in each game this season. It broke the Texas record for double-doubles in a single season, six, held by Nneka Enemkpali -- set during the 2012-13 campaign. Holmes stands two points away from scoring 1,000 points in her Longhorn career.
Collier now has six double-doubles this season.
Randi Thompson led UNT (3-4) with 15 points.
Texas, led by Collier's seven points and six rebounds, outscored North Texas, 17-13, in the first quarter. The Longhorns shot 29 percent from the field in the first quarter but held UNT to 24 percent.
North Texas took a pair of one-point leads midway through the second period, but Texas put together a 14-0 run beginning at the 5:30 mark to take a 37-24 halftime lead. Consecutive three pointers by Jada Underwood and three field goals by Holmes led the Longhorns' charge. UT's defense held UNT to a 28-percent field goal percentage for the first half. UT improved its field goal shooting to 39 percent by halftime.
Collier had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Holmes 10 points and seven rebounds, in the halftime statistics.
Texas led UNT, 47-37, at the end of the third quarter. Collier hit a layup and a couple of three-pointers, scoring eight of the Longhorns' ten points in the period.
Two free throws by North Texas' Anisha George capped a 7-0 UNT run to tie the game at 51-51 with 6:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. Six straight points by Sutton, two free throws and two jumpers, then gave UT a 60-54 lead. Then, with 26 seconds remaining and UT up by three points, Underwood took a crucial charge to strip UNT of possession. Subsequently, Taylor hit two free throws to give her team a 62-57 lead. Taylor nailed down the six-point final margin with a free thrown with five seconds left in the game.
The Longhorns held North Texas to two points in the last 3:31 of the game.
KEY STATISTICS
- The Longhorns started Sutton, Holmes, Collier, Taylor and Lashann Higgs.
- Texas now leads the all-time series with North Texas, 14-0.
- Texas hit 35 percent of its field goal attempts and held UNT to 33 percent.
- UNT got 42 rebounds and UT accumulated 38.
- Texas held UNT to two three-point field goals. Texas made four.
TEXAS HEAD COACH KAREN ASTON
"It was a tough battle, as I expected. I thought North Texas played well yesterday against Hawaii, and it looked like they settled in as who they wanted to be. It was a dogfight. That's exactly what it was. We contributed to that, somewhat, by our lack of cohesiveness on offense. But I definitely expected it. They were a little more physical than I thought they could be, but that seems to be everyone's game plan against us.
"It was huge [to bounce back after yesterday]. We really didn't want to lose two in a row, and it wouldn't be a loss that we could afford right now. I thought it was time to buckle down and do that, and the team did that. We're trying to get that mindset for the whole game instead of waiting for the last four minutes of the game."
UP NEXT
Texas will play Hawaii on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (CT) in the Longhorns' third game of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The game will be available on radio at 105.3 FM in Austin and online at TexasSports.com/audio.The game will also be streamed on Big West TV.
