The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
No. 7/9 Women’s Basketball preview: vs Kansas State
03.10.2022 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns square off with the Wildcats in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship quarterfinals on Friday (7:30 p.m. CT, ESPN U/ESPN+)
Game 30: #7/9 Texas (23-6, 13-5 Big 12) vs Kansas State (19-11, 9-9 Big 12)
Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals
Friday, March 11, 2022 – 7:30 p.m. Central
Municipal Auditorium (10,116) – Kansas City, Missouri
GameDay Quick Facts:
• TELEVISION: The game will be televised nationally on ESPN U and simulcast on ESPN+. Brenda VanLengen (pxp) and Holly Warlick (analyst) will call the action.
• RADIO: 105.3 The Bat broadcasts every UT game on the statewide network. Craig Way (pxp) and Kathy Harston (analyst) will call the action. Check TexasSports.com for a listing of affiliates carrying the game.
• SERIES: Texas leads, 27-17. Last meeting: Texas 62-51 (Feb. 23 , 2022; Manhattan).
Notables:
MARCH ON: The calendar has officially flipped to March and the No. 7/9 Texas Women's Basketball team is set to kick off postseason action this weekend as it travels to Kansas City, Mo., for the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship inside KC's Municipal Auditorium.
Finishing the regular season with a 23-6 record overall and a 13-5 five mark in conference play, the Longhorns secured the tournament's No.3 overall seed netting them a first round bye to the quarterfinal round where they'll meet No.6-seeded Kansas State. Tip is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN U and Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
The tournament's two first round games (No. 8 Texas Tech vs No. 9 Oklahoma; No. 7 West Virginia vs No. 10 TCU) are set to take place Thursday evening. Should the Longhorns win their clash with the Wildcats on Friday, they would advance to Saturday's semifinal where they would meet the winner of No. 2 Iowa State and either TCU or WVU.
SETTING THE STAGE: The red-hot Longhorns enter Friday's tilt riding an eight-game win streak dating back to a Feb.9 road victory over Texas Tech which is the second-longest active streak in the Big 12 behind Baylor (10 games). Texas took down Oklahoma State 65-50 in their regular season finale on Saturday in the Erwin Center.
The Wildcats also captured a victory in their regular season finale as they defeated TCU 61-50 on the road, which ended K-State's three-game losing streak.
Texas and K-State will meet for the 35th time on Friday. The Longhorns owns a 27-17 advantage in the all-time series with the Wildcats and won four-straight including a sweep of the regular season series. Texas most recently defeated KSU 62-51 in Manhattan on Feb.23.
PEAKING IN MARCH: After dropping three-straight games from Jan. 29 – Feb.6 , the Longhorns righted the ship as they've rattled off eight straight wins and are playing some of their best basketball of the season down the stretch run and heading into the postseason.
Throughout the win streak, the Longhorns are outscoring their opponents 553-328 and holding them to just 53.5 points per contest. Texas is shooting 44.4 percent from the field and with an impressive 76.6 percent mark from the charity stipe. The Longhorns are outrebounding opponents 293-232 and are forcing 19.8 opponent turnovers per game.
IN THE POLLS: The Longhorns climbed two more spots in the latest Associated Top-25 Poll (Feb. 28) checking in as the No. 7 team in the country, which mark their highest AP ranking of the year. They were also tabbed No. 9 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll (March 8).
Texas was tabbed No. 25 in the preseason AP poll and have remained in the Top-25 for 17-straight weeks and have not dipped below the No.16 spot.
FINAL TOP 16 PROJECTIONS ANNOUNCED: The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball selection committee released its final projections for the top 16 seeds for 2022 NCAA Championships on Monday with Texas being projected as the No. 10 overall seed in the tournament.
The Longhorns were paired in the Spokane Region as the No. 3 seed along with No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 LSU and No. 4 Indiana. South Carolina earned the top overall seed with Stanford, N.C. State and Louisville holding the other regional No.1 seed spots.
THE SCHAEFER FORMULA: Longhorn head coach Vic Schaefer makes no secret in the way his teams have found success over the years. Relentless full court defensive pressure, attention to detail, and limiting turnovers and mistakes have been built in to the identity of his programs. The 2021-22 Longhorns are no different ranking among the best in the country in several defensive categories. UT currently ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 28 in the NCAA holding opponents to just 55.8 points per game. They also lead the league and rank No. 10 nationally in turnovers forced at 21.8 per contest and rank No. 6 in turnover margin at 7.03.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Kansas State has enjoyed a successful 2021-22 campaign behind and exciting roster that features one an All-America caliber player in junior center Ayoka Lee as well as a supporting cast of young talent at the perimeter position.
On Monday, Lee was named unanimously to the All-Big 12 First Team by league coaches as well as the All-Defensive Team. Freshman guards Serena Sundell and Brylee Glenn were named to the All-Freshman team. Sundell also received Honorable Mention All-Big 12
Lee paced the conference offensively and ranks No. 5 in the NCAA averaging 22.6 points per game. She also ranks No. 4 in the country in blocked shots with 92 on the season and is No. 2 in the league in rebounding bringing down 10.3 boards per contest.
Sundell is the teams' second-leading scorer at 10.6 points per game. She ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 18 nationally in assists averaging 5.5 per game. Glenn averages eight points per game. As a team, K-State leads the conference and ranks No. 8 nationally with 163 blocks on the season.
NEXT: Regardless of the outcome of this weekend's championship, the Longhorns have all but positioned themselves as a top-16 seed and host for next weeks' NCAA Tournament First & Second Rounds inside the Frank Erwin Center.
Dates, times, pairings and broadcast information is set to be released during the women's selection on Sunday evening (7 p.m. CT, ESPN).
