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DENTON, Texas -- The No. 4 ranked Texas women's basketball team shook off a 12-day layoff and poor first half which was also plagued with 13 turnovers, and behind a career-high 30 points from senior guard Jamie Carey (Thornton, Colo./Horizon HS), posted a 79-54 victory over North Texas Thursday night at the Super Pit.

Playing their first game after a 12-day layoff due to final examinations, the Longhorns push their win streak to three games and improvde to 5-2 with the win. The Longhorns out-scored the Mean Green (4-4) by a 48-20 margin in the second half as UNT was limited to 33 percent shooting accuracy. Texas also out-rebounded North Texas by a significant margin in the final 20 minutes (25 boards to 12).

Sophomore forward Tiffany Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Duncanville HS) added her third double-double of the year with 17 points and a season-high and game-best 15 rebounds. Senior forward Heather Schreiber (Windthorst, Texas/Windthorst HS) was UT's third player in double-digit scoring with 16 points. Schreiber also added eight boards.

The Longhorns went eight-for-16 from 3-point range, with Schreiber four-for-six from 3-point range and Carey going four-for-seven.

Carey has now posted back-to-back career highs, having netted 28 points on December 4 against New Mexico in UT's last game. Against North Texas (4-4), Carey went 11-for-15 from the field and also added a game-high four assists.

Texas trailed at intermission, 34-31, due to turnovers and foul trouble. The Longhorns scored only 11 points in the final 12:01 of the first period, going two-for-13 from the floor and six-for-six from the foul line in that span.

To start the second half, however, the Longhorns out-scored the Mean Green 17-6 in the first 9:58, paced by Carey and Jackson and solid rebounding. Carey accounted for nine of those 17 points, while Jackson scored the other eight as UT regained the lead and pushed it to eight, 48-40, on a Carey three-pointer with 10:02 to play. Texas also out-rebounded the Mean Green 16-5 in that early going.

Carey accounted for 14 of UT's first 27 points in the second half.

Up by four, 53-49 with 7:12 remaining, the Longhorns went on a 14-2 run over the next 3:20 to pull ahead by 15, 67-51, on a Schreiber 3-point jumper with 3:59 remaining. In the run, Schreiber netted seven points on her trey, a layup and two free throws, while Carey added four points on two steals and two fastbreak layups.

In the final 7:12, the Longhorns out-scored the Mean Green by a 26-5 margin.

Texas finished the game shooting 44.1 percent, making 26 of 59 shots. UT went 16-for-34 (47 percent) from the floor in the second half. UT went 19-for-22 from the foul line, including a 12-for-15 effort in the final half. North Texas was 10-for-14 from the charity stripe. Texas committed 20 turnovers, while UNT had 23.

With two starters saddled early in the half with two fouls apiece (Jackson and Kala Bowers), the Longhorns hit 40 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes, making 10 of 25 field goals attempted as they trailed by three at the break. Texas turned the ball over 13 times in the half - three more turnovers then the Longhorns had in their last game against New Mexico. UT also suffered through a scoreless streak of 6:52 in the first half. After pushing their biggest lead of the half to seven, 20-13 on a Schreiber baseline 3-pointer with 12:01 to play, the Horns did not score for the next six minutes and 52 seconds.

In the 6:52, UT went 0-8 from the floor with four turnovers, as North Texas took over the lead with a 9-0 run and led for the first time, 21-20, on a Mia Ajekwu free throw with 6:57 to go. Texas then broke its scoreless streak when Nina Norman hit two free throws to tie the game at 22-all (with 5:09 remaining). Texas then suffered another scoring drought, missing its next three shots and turning the ball over five times in the next 3:10 as UNT built its lead to eight, 30-22, on a three-point play by Ajekwu (layup and free throw) with 2:48 to go. Texas got back on the board when Carey nailed a 3-point jumper from the left wing (1:59 to play) and followed with an immediate steal and layup to pull the Longhorns to withing three, 30-27, with 1:49 left.

Down the stretch of the half, both teams scored only from the foul line, with UT going four-for-four and the Mean Green one-for-two from the free throw line. North Texas shot an even 50 percent in the half (13-26) and turned the ball over eight times. UNT held a 13-11 edge in rebounding and out-scored the Longhorns in the paint, 16-8.

North Texas had two players in double-figure scoring. Sophomore forward Mia Ajekwu finished with 16 points, but scored only two points in the final half. Sophomore forward Kelsie Edwards added 13 points.

Texas will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 21 when the Longhorns host Texas-Arlington in a 7 p.m. (Central) game at the Frank Erwin Center. Texas currently holds the nation's longest Division I men's and women's homecourt win streak - at 39 games.

That game begins a four-game homestand for Texas, which is UT's longest homegame string of the year. The game will be broadcast on KVET Radio/1300 the Zone (1300 AM) in the Central Texas area, and will be available as an internet broadcast as well (www.TexasSports.com).

For tickets, call 512-471-3333, go to TexasBoxOffice.com, or visit the Texas Athletics Ticket Office (Bellmont Hall) or the Frank Erwin Center box office.

POSTGAME NOTES
· The game was Texas' first after a 12-day layoff for final examinations ... this will be the longest break of the year for the Longhorns
· senior guard Jamie Carey has now scored 58 points in the last two games (29.0 ppg average) ... in the last four games, Carey has connected on 14 3-pointers, going 14-for-25 in this stretch
· Tiffany Jackson is the only Longhorn to register a double-double on the year, and tonight's 17 point, career-high tying 15 rebounds marked the third double-double of the year for Jackson
· Texas' scoreless streak of 6:52 in the first half (scoreless from 12:01 mark to 5:09 mark when Norman hit two free throws) was the longest scoreless streak of the season for the Longhorns
· Texas is now 9-0 in all-time games against North Texas
· Texas now embarks on a four-game homestand - its' longest of the year, which begins on Tuesday, Dec. 21 when UT hosts Texas-Arlington at the Frank Erwin Center (7 p.m. Central) ... Texas currently holds the nation's longest homecourt win streak in NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball - at 39 games.

POSTGAME COACHES/PLAYERS QUOTES
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt
On the game in general...
"We were as bad as we could be in the first half. North Texas came to play tonight, and credit goes to them. This was a really big game for them. I was disappointed at how badly we struggled in the first half. Yes, we had two starters in foul trouble early on (TIffany Jackson and Kala Bowers), but that's when the other players need to step up. Jamie Carey was unbelievable again for us tonight, however, play after play after play. She completely changed the momentum of the game late in the first half and then to start the second half.

In the second half, I challenged the team. Tiffany was monstrous on the boards. Heather (Schreiber) and Kala stepped up late and made big plays for us."

On the play of Jamie Carey...
"I have challenged Jamie since before the New Mexico game to be a bigger scorer for us. When you have a shooter like Jamie, she just has to take the shots for you. I respect that fact that she is a complete "team" player who wants to get everyone involved in the game, but we need to make sure we get the ball into a great shooter's hands, and Jamie is just that."

Texas Senior G Jamie Carey
On the game and her scoring career points in back-to-back games...
"I will do whatever the team needs me to do at this point. If I need to pass, I'll pass; if I need to shoot and play defense, I'll do that. We needed buckets, and it didn't matter who scored - someone had to.

In the first half, we were really flat, had no passion and were not playing Texas basketball. I knew I needed to look for my shot. We were struggling, especially on offense, and that could be because we have spent the last 10 days of practice working primarily on defense. I know myself that I need to get better defensively. And, we've all just come off a hard week of finals. I know I am thankful that they are over and now we all are happy to be focusing just on basketball for a while.

At halftime, Coach (Conradt) was very stern and said what she had to say to us. We certainly needed to work harder, and we came out with energy right at the start of the second half, hitting the boards and running."