The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 6/7 Women’s Basketball falls to No. 2/2 Stanford 59-50 in NCAA Elite Eight
03.28.2022 | Women's Basketball
Joanne Allen-Taylor leads the team with 15 points as the Longhorns’ season comes to an end in regional final
SPOKANE, Wash. — An incredible ride and a whole lot of Texas Fight.
The No. 6/7 Texas Women's Basketball team saw its 2021-22 season come to close Sunday evening inside the Spokane Arena as it fell to No. 2/2 Stanford 59-50 in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Tournament.
With the loss, the Longhorns conclude the season with a 29-7 record overall, marking the most wins in a season since 2015-16.
In what was a wire-to-wire defensive clash, the No. 2-seed Longhorns battled the No. 1-seed Cardinal to the final buzzer but couldn't generate enough offense down the stretch to come out on top.
After playing to a 14-14 tie in the opening frame, Stanford outscored UT 16-13 in the second quarter to take a three-point lead into the break.
After the Cardinal took a five-point lead (45-40) into the fourth quarter, the Longhorns cut the deficit to just two points (50-48) with 3:30 left on the clock, but Stanford used a 9-2 run to close out the win.
Senior guard Joanne Allen-Taylor paced the Longhorns offensively with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting with a 1-of-3 mark from three-point range and a perfect 4-of-4 mark at the free throw line.
Rori Harmon tallied 14 points and led the team with six assists and seven rebounds. Allen-Taylor and Harmon were both named to the Spokane Region All-Tournament Team.
As a team, the Longhorns finished the game shooting 32.7 percent (17-of-52) from the floor, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from three-point range and 55 percent (11-20) from the charity stripe.
Texas forced 20 Stanford turnovers in the game, which led to 15 points and committed 10 turnovers on the other end.
The Cardinal held a 45-28 rebounding advantage over the Longhorns and a 24-16 edge in points in the paint. UT held a 19-9 advantage in points off of the bench.
Stanford finished the game shooting 32.7 percent (19-of-51) from the field and 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from behind the arc.
The Cardinal were led offensively by Lexie Hull who finished with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting including a 2-of-4 mark from three-point range. Haley Jones added 18 points and led the team on the glass with 12 rebounds.
Despite falling just short of their first Final Four appearance since 2003, the Longhorns' future remains bright and will be poised to make another run next season as they return 10-of-13 players along with another talented incoming freshman class.
