The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
North Texas
Women's Basketball preview: North Texas
11.28.2020 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns continue their season-opening homestand by welcoming in North Texas
Women's Basketball Preview: Texas vs. North Texas [Nov. 29, 2020]
Texas [1-0] vs. North Texas [1-0]
November 29, 2020
Where: Austin, Texas
Arena: Frank Erwin Center [16,540]
Time: 2:00 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 14-0
NOTES
• A VIC-torious Debut: The streak continued last Wednesday as all five head coaches in Texas history have now won in their UT coaching debut as new head coach Vic Schaefer led his team to a 90-51 victory over SMU. He owns a 302-172 [.637] overall record in his 16th season.
• That's a LOT of Turnover: Texas' defense has already made an impression on the national and Big 12 stats. UT forced 35 turnovers against SMU, marking the first time UT secured that many since nabbing 37 against Sacramento State back on Nov. 27, 1994. As a result, Texas currently leads NCAA Division I in turnovers forced, while topping the Big 12 in both turnovers forced and turnover margin.
• Series History: The Longhorns and Mean Green meet for the 15th time in the history of the two programs with Texas holding a perfect 14-0 advantage. The teams met last year in the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i, with Texas beating North Texas, 63-57. In that contest, Charli Collier posted a double-double with 21 points & 14 rebounds, while Celeste Taylor added 12 points.
• Twenty Somethings: Both maybe not yet in age, but twenty somethings on the stat sheet. Both junior forward/center Charli Collier and sophomore guard Celeste Taylor cracked the 20-point mark during the season-opening win over SMU. Collier posted her 17th career double-double by registering 25 points & 12 boards, while Taylor managed her third career 20-point effort with 24 tallies, including 17 in the opening half.
• Back on the Forty Acres: Two members of North Texas' coaching staff have Longhorns ties. UNT associate head coach Jamie Carey scored 1,074 points (46th in program history) from 2002-05 before going on to serve as both an assistant and an associate head coach as part of the Texas coaching staff from 2016-20. In addition, former Longhorns basketball analyst coordinator (2016-20) and Texas-Ex Kelby Jones returns to UT as a North Texas' assistant coach.
• 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.
