The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
SMU
Women's Basketball preview: SMU
11.24.2020 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns prepare to open the 2020-21 season on Wednesday by hosting the Mustangs.
Texas [0-0] vs. SMU [0-0]
November 25, 2020
Where: Austin, Texas
Arena: Frank Erwin Center [16,540]
Time: 1:00 p.m. CT
TV: Longhorn Network [Alex Loeb, Andrea Lloyd]
Video Stream: LINK
Radio: TexasSports.com [Craig Way, Kathy Harston]
Live Stats: LINK
All-Time Series: Texas leads 35-3
NOTES
• The Vic Schaefer era begins on Wednesday when Texas plays host to SMU at the Frank Erwin Center. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised nationally by Longhorn Network. Schaefer was named the fifth head coach in Texas women's basketball history on April 5, 2020.
• VICtory: Schaefer comes to the Forty Acres after an impressive eight-year stint at Mississippi State, where he led the Bulldogs to a 221-62 [.781] record and five NCAA Tournament berths, including two NCAA Championship Game appearances.
• Texas first-year head coach Vic Schaefer will look to extend a program-long streak as each previous UT head coach has won in their debut on the Forty Acres. See below for the previous instances:
Previous Texas Coaches in Debuts
Rodney Page - at Huston-Tillotson
won 68-17 on Nov. 26, 1974
Jody Conradt - at McLennan CC
won 72-58 on Nov. 22, 1976
Gail Goestenkors - Missouri State
won 92-55 on Nov. 11, 2007
Karen Aston - No. 14 St. John's
won 70-60 on Nov. 9, 2012
• Series History: The Longhorns and Mustangs meet for the 39th time in the history of the two programs, and for the first time since December 18, 2010. Texas leads the all-time series 35-3. The Longhorns won the first 31 meetings in the all-time series. Texas has a three-game winning streak in the series.
• Season Openers and Home Openers: The 47th season of women's basketball at the University of Texas tips off with Wednesday's opener against SMU. The Longhorns are 34-12 [.739] all-time in season openers and 42-4 [.913] all-time in home openers.
• Welcome Home: Former Texas men's basketball standout and a two-time Southwest Conference Player of the Year Travis Mays returns home as head coach at SMU. In addition to his decorated playing career on the Texas men's basketball team, Mays also served as an assistant [2004-07] and associate head coach [2012-16] for the Texas women's basketball program. In addition, former Longhorns standout women's player and Texas special assistant and now SMU associate head coach Amie Smith Bradley will be making her return to the Forty Acres.
• Texas welcomes back one of the top players (and especially rebounders) in the nation in junior forward/center Charli Collier. The Mont Belvieu, Texas, native was one of just six players in the Big 12 to average a double-double over the entire 2019-20 season, becoming the first UT player to do so since Imani McGee-Stafford in 2015-16. She also ranked 16th in the NCAA in double-doubles (16), rated 20th nationally in rebounds-per-game (10/5) and 23rd in total rebounds (314).
• Standout junior forward/center Charli Collier has cleaned up on preseason accolades. She has already been named to preseason "Watch Lists" for the Wade Trophy, the Naismith Trophy and the Lisa Leslie Award. The Mont Belvieu, Texas, native averaged 13.1 ppg and 10.5 rpg during the 2019-20 campaign on the way to becoming a Top 10 finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award.
• Texas senior guard transfer Kyra Lambert is one of 20 preseason watch list candidates for the 2021 Nancy Lieberman Award. A three-time team captain at Duke, she started the final 21 games of the 2019-20 season and averaged 5.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Lambert made her return to the court last year after missing the previous two seasons due to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries.
• In the annual preseason Big 12 coaches vote, the Longhorns were picked to finish second in the league during the 2020-21 season. Baylor claimed the top spot in the poll, earning nine first-place votes and 81 points in polling for the upcoming 2020-21 season. The Longhorns received one first-place vote and 73 points in the poll. Rounding out slots three thru 10 in the poll in descending order were: Iowa State (69), Kansas State (50), West Virginia (45), Texas Tech (36), Oklahoma (33), Oklahoma State (26), TCU (23) and Kansas (14).
• A pair of returning players were named to the 2020-21 Preseason All-Big 12 Teams. Junior forward/center Charli Collier was a unanimous selection to the 10-person Preseason All-Big 12 Team, while sophomore guard Celeste Taylor was one of 10 players to claim a spot on the Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention team. The Longhorns posted a 19-11 mark (11-7, third in Big 12) last year prior to the season being canceled on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
