The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
16-9,8-5Big 12
West Virginia
15-9,5-8Big 12
Women’s Basketball uses key baskets and rugged defense to defeat West Virginia, 50-44
02.17.2020 | Women's Basketball
Lashann Higgs and Joyner Holmes score decisive points in the last two minutes.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Three key baskets, two by Lashann Higgs and one by Joyner Holmes -- combined with a stifling Longhorn defense in the last two minutes -- shut down a West Virginia comeback and preserved a 50-44 Texas win in a Big 12 Conference game on Monday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
Ahead by 15 points in the third quarter, Texas saw West Virginia cut the lead to three with 2:06 remaining in the game. Higgs answered with a layup at 1:35, Holmes laid it in with 42 seconds left, and Higgs then sealed the Mountaineers' fate with a driving layup with 19 seconds remaining. Higgs snatched a key defensive rebound at the 1:10 mark, a critical stop that set up Holmes' subsequent basket which gave Texas a seven-point lead.
Charli Collier led Texas (16-9, 8-5) with 11 points and 15 rebounds, her 13th double-double of the season. Sug Sutton scored ten. Kari Niblack led West Virginia (15-9, 5-8) with 16 points.
Collier scored the game's first five points, on a layup and a three pointer, while the Longhorns held the Mountaineers to one bucket in the first seven minutes of the first quarter. Texas made 50 percent of its field goal attempts and hit all six of its free throws, as UT finished the first period with a 21-10 lead.
Cold shooting characterized the second quarter, as Texas hit two of 17 shots from the floor and West Virginia made four of 14. Texas took a 25-18 lead into the locker room. Collier had seven points, with Sutton and Audrey Warren having six each, in the halftime statistics.
A stifling Texas defense held West Virginia without a field goal for the first five minutes of the third quarter, as Texas built two 15-point leads. The Longhorns held a 42-31 lead at the end of three quarters.
West Virginia went on a 6-0 run to open the fourth quarter, cutting the Longhorns' margin to five. After the teams traded baskets, the Mountaineers eventually cut the UT lead to three with two minutes remaining in the game – which set the stage for Higgs' and Holmes' decisive baskets.
KEY STATISTICS
- The Longhorns started Holmes, Sutton, Collier, Jada Underwood and Celeste Taylor.
- After the 20th meeting between the two teams, Texas holds a 13-7 lead in the all-time series.
- Scoring defense highlighted the game, as Texas shot 36 percent and West Virginia managed 33 percent from the floor.
- Texas won the rebounding battle, 39-37.
- Texas nailed 8 of ten free throw attempts.
- The Longhorns scored 36 points in the paint, 16 bench points, and stole the ball seven times.
TEXAS HEAD COACH KAREN ASTON
"I thought it was a hard-fought game on both teams' part. Everybody is scratching and clawing for position right now in the Big 12. West Virginia is typically a very physical team and we knew that, and I thought we handled it better than we did in Morgantown. I'm just really proud of our team as far as reacting and responding to a really disappointing and tough loss, and then talking about what we needed to do to get back to playing better, more competitive, basketball. And I thought we did that tonight. If I go back and look at the film, it will surprise me if I see too many possessions where we didn't play hard. We needed to get moving in that direction again: helping each other, being more of a team - in particular defensively. I just thought that everyone contributed in that manner tonight and that just has to be our identity from this point forward."
WEST VIRGINIA HEAD COACH MIKE CAREY
""I thought both teams played hard. [When] you go zero of fifteen (0-15) from the three-point line, it's hard to win the game. But I thought both teams played hard. We just don't hit shots anymore. We don't execute on the offensive end."
On how they rebounded from the slow start:
"Our girls didn't quit but to win games in the Big XII, you have to play four quarters. You just have to play four quarters. We had it cut to five, had a wide-open shot and missed it, took a bad shot gave them a layup then it's back up to seven and then nine."
UP NEXT
Texas returns to action on Saturday when it plays host to Kansas State. Tip-off at the Frank Erwin Center is slated for 12 p.m. CT. The game will be nationally televised by the LHN. It will be available on radio at 105.3 FM in Austin and online at TexasSports.com/audio.
