The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 1 Stanford
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Down goes No. 1: Women's Basketball defeats Stanford 69-64
12.22.2019 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns earn their first win against an AP No. 1 team since 2004.
AUSTIN, Texas – Joyner Holmes stole an inbounds pass and drove for a layup on the last play of the game, giving Texas a 69-64 win over Stanford on Sunday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center -- marking the first time in 15 years that the Longhorns have defeated a team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll.
Holmes also contributed two key free throws with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter. That gave Texas a five-point advantage that withstood a last-minute Cardinal rally -- which cut the UT margin to one point. Two free throws by Sug Sutton with five seconds on the clock put Texas ahead, 67-64. Then, with Stanford inbounding the ball at midcourt, needing a three-pointer to tie the game in the waning seconds, Holmes stole Alyssa Jerome's inbounds pass and scored as the buzzer sounded.
Holmes scored 13 points, got eight rebounds and blocked one shot for Texas (7-4). Charli Collier recorded her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points and hauling down 19 rebounds. Sug Sutton scored 12 and dished out four assists. Jada Underwood pulled down 10 rebounds and stole the ball four times.
Lexie Hull (17), Kiana Williams (15), and Nadia Fingall (14) scored in double figures for previously undefeated Stanford (10-1).
Texas raced to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, causing three Stanford turnovers in the first five minutes of play. Dominant on the boards, the Longhorns forged another seven-point lead at the 3:46 mark. Thanks to Celeste Taylor's eight points and Collier's seven rebounds, Texas led, 22-16, at the end of the first quarter. Texas out-rebounded Stanford, 13-8 and forced five Cardinal turnovers in the initial period.
For a period of six minutes and 40 seconds in the second quarter, the Longhorn defense forced the Cardinal to miss 10 consecutive shots from the floor. Texas built two 11-point leads during the second period. Holmes had nine points, Taylor eight and Collier seven in the halftime stats. For the first half, the Texas defense held Stanford to 30 percent from the floor and 21 percent from behind the three-point arc. The Longhorns took a nine-point lead, 35-26, into the locker room at the half.
Stanford scored the first seven points of the third quarter, cutting the Longhorns' lead to two, but Collier's two consecutive three pointers rebuilt an eight-point margin, which UT held twice midway through the period. Then, Stanford went on a 12-3 run in the last 4:45 to take a 47-46 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Five ties and seven lead changes in the volatile fourth quarter set the stage for Holmes' two critical free throws, which built a five-point Texas lead that set up the game's dramatic finish.
KEY STATISTICS
- The Longhorns started Holmes, Taylor, Collier, Underwood and Sutton.
- The Texas victory cut Stanford's all-time series lead over UT to 8-5.
- Texas is now 6-26 against teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll at the time of the game. Texas last defeated a No. 1 team in the AP poll on Nov. 25, 2004 when the Longhorns topped Tennessee, 74-59.
- Texas last defeated a No. 1 team in the WCBA Coaches Poll when it downed Stanford, 87-81, on Nov. 20, 2014.
- Texas out-rebounded Stanford, 48-42, and topped the Cardinal, 24-22, in points in the paint.
- Stanford led in second-chance points, 16-15.
- The teams tied in fast-break points, 14-14, and points from the bench, 14-14.
- Texas held Stanford to 32 percent shooting from the floor.
TEXAS HEAD COACH KAREN ASTON
"I think that our team had a confidence about themselves that we started the game with, but, the thing that I'm most proud of is they're beginning to learn how to play 40 minutes. They reset themselves when things don't go well. They're learning to help each other and not depend on the coaches as much. I think that's where we've sort of turned the corner. Again, it's one win; it's a big one. There's no question about it. Stanford is really, really good. But I told them before the game that I wanted to see that we are still growing and that we learned some things from Tennessee. I wanted to see that we were moving forward and getting better. You hope that the win came out of that, and it did. I'm just really proud because this was a complete team effort."
STANFORD HEAD COACH TARA VANDERVEER
"I want to congratulate Texas. They played very well. They're very focused. They have a lot of talent and they put it together very well. I was very glad to see Joyner Holmes come back and that she wasn't hurt. That was upsetting to our team.
"I thought Collier really hurt us. Holmes really hurt us with her inside game. We got a real pounding from Underwood. I thought they played very well. They took care of the ball. They got good shots. We missed a lot of shots. We got some very good looks and we did not knock down shots. But, I think the name of the game was the fact that they were more aggressive than we are and I think we learned an important lesson from that loss."
UP NEXT
Texas concludes its non-conference schedule against Northwestern State on Sunday, Dec 29 at 1 p.m. CT at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. The game will be telecast nationally on the Longhorn Network. It will be available on radio at 105.3 FM in Austin and online at TexasSports.com/audio.
