The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
2-0,0-0Big 12
Liberty
2-1,0-0CUSA
No. 13/14 Women’s Basketball takes down Liberty, 75-57
11.12.2023 | Women's Basketball
The Longhorns extinguish the Flames in a Sunday matinee game at Moody Center.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 13/14 Texas (2-0) topped Liberty (2-1) 75-57 on Sunday at Moody Center.
The Longhorns never trailed during the game. Texas started off hot with a 12-2 run which included eight points on 4-4 shooting from junior Rori Harmon, forcing the Flames to call a timeout. Texas closed out the first quarter having turned over Liberty 10 times.
Liberty responded in the second quarter by shooting 80 percent from the field and capitalizing on a three minute and eight second Texas scoring drought by going on a 7-0 run, narrowing the score to 23-21 in favor of Texas. The Horns answered back by scoring eight points in the final 2:05 in the half, which was capped off by a 3-point buzzer beater from Shaylee Gonzales off of a Harmon assist to give Texas a six point lead at the half.
Texas took over the game in the third quarter, outscoring Liberty 27-14 and going on an 14-2 run starting at the 4:59 marker to close out the quarter. The period also saw the Longhorns force 14 Liberty turnovers. Texas held Liberty scoreless for 5:38 of game time.
Both Harmon and senior Shay Holle finished with assists numbers that were notable. Harmon's five assists moved her into the top ten in UT program history in career assists. Holle's five assists was a career high.
Up next, the Longhorns will play against UT Arlington at Moody Center on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Longhorn Network.
Postgame Notes
· Tonight's matchup was the first ever between Liberty and Texas, with Texas now 1-0 all-time against Liberty.
· For the second game in a row, the Longhorns took the lead and never trailed throughout the game.
· Texas forced a season-high 35 turnovers and subsequently won the points-off-turnovers battle 33-4. It is back-to-back games now where the Longhorns have forced their opposition to over 20 turnovers.
· UT held a 16-0 advantage in fast break points.
· The Longhorns dominated the offensive glass with a 19-9 advantage.
· Texas limited Liberty to just seven points in the first quarter, the fourth time this season holding an opponent to single digit scoring.
· Midway through the second quarter Rori Harmon got her third assist of the night, putting her into the top 10 all-time assists for Texas after only 69 career games. Harmon passes Nina Norman and Sug Sutton who were tied at 419 assists. Harmon now has 422 career assists and is ninth all-time in UT history in career assists.
· To end the third quarter the Longhorns went on a 14-0 run where they held Liberty scoreless for five minutes and 37 seconds.
· A well-balanced offense saw four Texas players score in double figures tonight.
· Senior Shay Holle had a career-high five assists and an efficient six points shooting three of five from the floor
· Sophomore Amina Muhammad scored 14 points for the second game in a row, tying her career-high, and set a career-high four free throws made as she was perfect from the charity stripe. She added seven rebounds and four steals.
· Freshman Madison Booker led the team in box plus-minus with a positive 27 and scored in double digits for the first time in her career with 11 points.
· Senior Taylor Jones had a near double-double performance with 13 points and tied team-high seven rebounds
· After cracking into the top-ten for all time assists, Rori finished the night with a tied team-high 14 points, and a tied team-high 5 assists.
