The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 7/9 Women’s Basketball tops Iowa State, 82-73, in overtime to advance to Big 12 Championship Game
03.12.2022 | Women's Basketball
Rori Harmon drops a career-high 30 points as the Longhorns secure a spot in the Big 12 title game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The No. 7/9 Texas Women's Basketball Team came away with a hard-fought 82-73 overtime victory over No. 10/7 Iowa State Saturday afternoon in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship semifinals inside Municipal Auditorium.
With the win, the No.3-seeded Longhorns run their win streak to 10 games and punch their ticket to Sunday's Big 12 Championship game where they'll meet up with No.1-seeded and No.4/4-ranked Baylor. Tip is slated for 1 p.m. CT and will air nationally on ESPN 2.
Texas grabbed an early 18-16 lead after a back-and-fourth first quarter. ISU responded in the second quarter outscoring the Longhorns 18-10, and took a 34-28 lead into the break.
UT opened the third quarter a 7-2 run and retook the lead at the 1:54 mark of the quarter. Both teams traded blows throughout the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime tied, 63-63.
The Longhorns outscored the Cyclones 19-10 in the extra frame shooting 5-of-6 from the floor to seal the victory.
Freshman point guard Rori Harmon had a sensational outing as she erupted for a career-high 30 points on 8-of-17 shooting and knocked down a career-best five triples. She was also a perfect 9-of-9 at the charity stripe and dished out four assists.
Lauren Ebo tallied 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and four blocks. Joanne Allen-Taylor added 13 points and was 3-of-4 from three-point range.
Sophomore DeYona Gaston recorded her second double-double of the year finishing with 13 points and a team-high 10 boards.
Texas forced 15 turnovers in the game, which led to 17 points and committed just 11 turnovers on the other end. UT held a 34-33 rebounding advantage and a 32-30 edge in points in the paint.
As a team, the Longhorns finished the game shooting 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field and shot 62.5 percent on a season-high 10-of-16 mark from three-point range. They also finished with an 84.2 percent (16-of-19) performance at the free throw line.
Iowa State finished the game shooting 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field and 54.2 percent (11-of-21) from behind the arc.
The Cyclones were led offensively by Ashley Joens who finished with 33 points. Lexi Donarski added 11 points and Emily Ryan finished with 8. Joens also led the team on the glass finishing with 13 rebounds.
The Longhorns will now turn their attention to a Lady Bears team that is coming off of a 91-76 victory over No. 4-seed Oklahoma in their semifinal matchup.
Texas will look to capture its first Big 12 Championship crown since 2003 and make their first appearance in the title game since 2017-18.
