The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
East Carolina
No. 15/16 Women’s Basketball preview: East Carolina
03.16.2023 | Women's Basketball
No. 4 seed Texas (25-9, 14-4 Big 12) vs. No. 13 seed East Carolina (23-9, 11-5 AAC)
Game 35
NCAA Tournament First Round
Saturday, March 18, 2023 – 9:00 p.m. Central
Moody Center – Austin, Texas
GameDay Quick Facts
TELEVISION: The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Eric Frede (pxp) and Tamika Catchings (analyst) will call the game.
RADIO: The game will be carried on 105.3 FM in Austin. Roger Wallace (pxp) and Kathy Harston (analyst) will call the action. The broadcast will be streamed on TexasSports.Com.
SERIES: This is the first meeting between Texas and East Carolina.
Notables
BIG 12 CHAMPIONS: The Longhorn finished 14-4 in conference play and earned a share of the conference championship, their first regular season conference title since the 2003-04 season.
BIG 12 AWARDS: Texas head coach Vic Schaefer was selected by the league's coaches as the Big 12 Coach of the Year. Rori Harmon earned Defensive Player of the Year and Shaylee Gonzales was selected the Newcomer of the Year. Landing on the All-Big 12 First Team were Rori Harmon and DeYona Gaston. Gonzales earned a spot on the second team, Harmon earned a spot on the defensive team and Amina Muhammad was selected to the All-Freshman Team.
ALL-AMERICAN STATUS: Rori Harmon earned All-America honorable mention honors from the Associated Press this week. It is her second straight All-America honors as she also earned honorable mention in her freshman season.
ELITE COMPANY: Rori Harmon and Iowa guard Caitlin Clark are the only two players in NCAA DI women's basketball that are averaging at least 11.4 points per game, seven assists per game and five rebounds per game. In the semifinal win over Oklahoma State, Harmon became the first player in Big 12 Championship history to record a game with 10+ points, 10+ assists and 7+ rebounds. Harmon also reached 200 assists on the season to become the seventh player in program history to reach that milestone and first since Edwina Brown in the 1999-00 season.
DEFENSE GETTING IT DONE:
Texas is 21-0 on the season when they hold an opponent to 59 points or less. Texas is the only team in the country to have 20 games holding an opponent to under 60 points and be undefeated in those games. 23 times this season Texas has held an opponent to single digits for a quarter. The Longhorns held an Oklahoma offense averaging 86.7 points per game to 45 points. Against Kansas State in the quarterfinal, Texas gave up 42 points, their lowest for an opponent in their Big 12 tournament history. Texas ranks 10th in the NCAA in turnovers forced per game and fourth in the NCAA in blocked shots per game. Texas has blocked 198 shots this season, which is two blocks from setting a program record. The program record for blocks in a season is 199 in the 2009-10 season.
BATTLING ADVERSITY: The Longhorns have faced adversity with multiple players suffering injuries this season. This season the Longhorns have had 51 missed games by rotational players.
RORI HARMON: Sophomore All-American Rori Harmon made history on Jan. 4 in the Longhorns win over TCU as she became the 4th player in program history to record a triple-double. Harmon scored 17 points and added 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Harmon leads the Big 12 in assists per game. Harmon is No. 4 on the UT all-time list for assists for sophomores with 213. Harmon was named to the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week Midseason Team. Harmon leads the team in fouls drawn (130) and charges taken (29). Harmon has played 40 minutes in 10 conference games for the Longhorns.
ON THE GLASS: The Longhorns are 20-5 this season when they outrebound their opponent. Texas has been effective on the offensive glass as they lead the Big 12 and rank 13th in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game at 15.3. Texas has won the offensive glass in 23 games this season. Against West Virginia, the Longhorns grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and only gave up four offensive boards to the Mountaineers.
20 WINS: The Longhorns notched their 20th win of the season against TCU. For head coach Vic Schaefer, he has now won 20 or more games in 10 straight seasons as a head coach.
GONZALES GOING OFF: In her first season in Austin, Shaylee Gonzales has made an impact. Gonzales has scored in double-figures in 24 games this season. In the Texas win over Texas Tech Gonzales scored 25 points and went a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line. Against TCU, Gonzales not only scored 16 points, but added seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Gonzales is 13 points away from 2,000 for her career.
JONES AN INSIDE FORCE: Taylor Jones has blocked three or more shots in nine games this season and in three games she has blocked five shots. Jones blocked five shots in the Texas win at Oklahoma. Jones tallied eight points and 11 rebounds in the quarterfinal against Kansas State. Jones is 15 points from 1,000 for her career.
