The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
18-10,10-6Big 12
Oklahoma
12-16,5-11Big 12
Women’s Basketball defeats Oklahoma, 86-76
02.29.2020 | Women's Basketball
Taylor scores 27 points and Collier gets 15th double-double as Longhorns sweep season series with OU.
AUSTIN, Texas – Celeste Taylor scored a career-high 27 points and Charli Collier achieved her 15th double-double of the season, as Texas broke open a close game in the last two minutes of the second quarter to defeat Oklahoma, 86-76, in a Big 12 Conference game on Saturday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
Collier scored 14 points and gathered 12 rebounds, and Joyner Holmes bucketed 16 points for Texas (18-10, 10-6.). Texas shot 48 percent from the floor and hit 50 percent (7 of 14) of its three-post shots. UT also made 21 of 29 free throw attempts.
Madi Williams and Gabby Gregory led OU (12-16, 5-11) with 25 and 21 points, respectively.
Each team made three of its first four three-point shots to begin the game. Texas held early leads of 7-0 and 10-3, but the margin tightened for the rest of the period -- with UT holding leads that varied between two and four points. Oklahoma tied the game on two occasions late in the quarter. The first quarter ended in a 23-23 deadlock. The Longhorns shot 53 percent in the first ten minutes.
Oklahoma took a four-point lead in the first four minutes of the second quarter, but UT then staged a 14-2 run to take a 39-31 halftime lead. Taylor scored the first eight points of the comeback run on two free throws, a jumper, a three-pointer and a solo free throw. Taylor scored 17 points in the first half.
Holmes, with seven points, and Audrey Warren, with four, led UT's third quarter effort – which produced a 16-point lead at one point and closed the penultimate period with a 62-48 lead.
The Longhorns again expanded their lead to 16 points at the six-minute mark, and then protected double-digit margins until the last two minutes of the game. OU cut the UT lead to eight at the 1:15 mark, but four consecutive free throws by Sutton, a layup by Higgs and a free throw by Higgs cemented the Texas win.
KEY STATISTICS
- The Longhorns started Holmes, Collier, Taylor, Sug Sutton and Jada Underwood.
- In the 60th meeting between the two schools, Texas now holds a 35-25 lead.
- UT out-rebounded OU, 39-36.
- Texas scored 28 points in the paint, 25 fast break points, and recorded 19 assists.
- UT has now won six consecutive games against OU, the first time in the series that either team has won that many consecutive games.
TEXAS HEAD COACH KAREN ASTON
"I thought it was a really good win for our team, considering how physical the game was and the ebb and flow of it. Sometimes when we get into games like that, we don't respond positively but I thought we really did tonight. I thought we were ready to play when the game started, and we made adjustments that went along with what Oklahoma was giving us. I thought our defense was just good enough. We played in waves defensively and we'll have to do better than that in our next couple of games. I thought fatigue set in a little bit, on both teams. It was hard fought – Oklahoma fought hard, as did our players, but I'm really pleased with this win."
OU HEAD COACH SHERRI COALE
"The second quarter did us in. We were 12% from the field in the second quarter. Part of that was because Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson were in foul trouble and we don't quite have the depth that we need to have from a scoring standpoint, particularly to be able to recover from that. So that was a bit of the problem. I thought overall our guys competed, we played better than we've played as of late. I thought we battled on the glass; we were undersized all night long and I thought we battled really hard there. Texas did a good job; Celeste Taylor was unbelievable today. They were terrific from the free throw line, 21 of 29. A bunch of free throws and they connected on them. Give them credit because they played well."
UP NEXT
Texas returns to action on Thursday when it travels to Waco, Texas, to take on No. 2 Baylor. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT and the game will be nationally televised by FS1. It will be available on radio at 105.3 FM in Austin and online at TexasSports.com/audio.
