Jan. 11, 2010
Complete game notes
#19/20 TEXAS (11-4, 0-1 Big 12) vs. #11/13 Nebraska (14-0, 1-0 Big 12)
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 • 7:05 p.m. Central
Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,595) • Lincoln, Neb.
GAME DAY QUICK FACTS
TELEVISION: None. Live streaming will be available to HuskersNside subscribers on Huskers.com.
RADIO: KVET-AM 1300 “The Zone” will broadcast Tuesday’s game between Texas and Nebraska. Craig Way (pxp) and Carol Ross (analyst) will call the action.
SERIES: Texas leads, 13-5. Last meeting: Texas 74-60 (Jan. 14, 2009; Austin, Texas)
NOTABLES
• FONTENETTE’S IMPRESSIVE START ... Sophomore guard Ashleigh Fontenette is off to an impressive start in 2010. In Texas’ three games since the start of the new year, Fontenette is averaging a team-high 15.0 ppg while playing a team-high 24.0 mpg. Additionally, she is contributing 3.7 apg, 2.7 rpg and 1.0 spg.
• KAT AMONG THE BEST ... To say that junior guard Kathleen Nash is hot from long distance this season would be an understatement. In the most current NCAA national rankings (Jan. 10), Nash is third in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage with 52.2 percent (35-of-67) and is on pace to shatter the single-season school record of 44.8 percent (13-of-29) set by Vicki Hall during 1988-89.
• HORNS VS. BIG 12 NORTH OPPONENTS ... Texas holds an impressive 75-35 all-time record against Big 12 Conference North opponents since the league began in 1996-97. In two seasons of Big 12 regular season action, Coach G is 8-4 against her northern foes.
SERIES VS. NEBRASKA
Tuesday’s contest marks the 19th meeting between Texas and Nebraska. Texas holds a 13-5 advantage in the all-time series which began on Feb. 28, 1981, with a 95-63 Texas victory in Austin. The Huskers have won two of the last three contests in the series, but prior to 2007, the Longhorns won eight straight contests in a six-year span. UT won last year’s decision, 74-60, on Jan. 14. The Horns are 4-3 all-time against the Huskers in Lincoln.
Series Quick Facts Overall Series Record - Texas, 13-5
Goestenkors vs. Nebraska - 1-1
Most UT points - 95 (Feb. 28, 1981)
Most Nebraska points - 87 (Jan. 28, 1998)
Fewest UT points - 45 (Jan. 9, 2008)
Fewest Nebraska points - 48 (Jan. 20, 2001)
In overtime - Texas, 1-0
FLASHBACK: VS. NEBRASKA (JAN. 14, 2009)
Ashleigh Fontenette scored a career-high 21 points to lead No. 16 Texas to a 74-60 win over Nebraska on Jan. 14, 2009. Kathleen Nash had 20 points and six rebounds, and sparked a late first-half surge for the Longhorns. Texas went on a 9-0 run in the final 1:17 of the half to go into the break down 33-32. Nash scored seven of the nine points in the final 45 seconds. The Longhorns then outscored Nebraska 17-5 in the first seven minutes of the second half to take a 49-38 lead. The Cornhuskers closed the gap to 62-57 with just under four minutes remaining in the game, but Texas went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes.
A CHECK OF THE POLLS
Texas is ranked No. 19 in the latest Associated Press poll (Jan. 11), and No. 20 in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll (Jan. 5). Following three non-conference contests against ranked opponents (Connecticut, Mississippi State, Tennessee), the Horns’ are expected to face at least five Big 12 opponents ranked in the Top 25: No. 9/5 Baylor (Jan. 31 in Austin, March 7 in Waco), No. 8/10 Texas A&M (Jan. 9 in Austin, Feb. 20 in College Station), No. 11/13 Nebraska (Jan. 12 in Lincoln), No. 13/15 Oklahoma (Feb. 3 in Norman, Feb. 27 in Austin) and No. 15/rv Oklahoma State (Jan. 20 in Austin, Feb. 24 in Stillwater).
LAST TIME OUT: TEXAS A&M (JAN. 9)
The Longhorns (11-4) still own a 58-18 lead in the series, but struggled Saturday to keep up with the Aggies’ speed and athleticism. Texas A&M held Texas to 32 percent shooting, allowed just five field goals in the first half and built the lead as high as 30 points midway through the second. Ashley Gayle had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Texas.
TEXAS AGAINST THE BIG 12 NORTH
Texas holds an impressive 75-35 all-time record against Big 12 Conference North opponents since the league began in 1996-97. In two seasons of Big 12 regular season action, Coach G is 8-4 against her northern foes.
HITTING THE BOARDS
Texas has dominated the boards by a double-digit margin over the last six games with a +11.7 rebounding margin and enters Tuesday’s game at Nebraska with a +6.5 overall rebounding margin. The Longhorns pulled down a season-high 56 boards against Miami en route to defeating the Hurricanes in the championship game of the Wyndham Miami Holiday Tournament (Dec. 28-29). Sophomore post Ashley Gayle is UT’s leading rebounder with 7.4 boards per game, while junior guard Kathleen Nash is pulling down 7.2 rpg.
LINEUP ADJUSTMENTS
Head coach Gail Goestenkors decided to debut a new lineup to begin Big 12 Conference play against Texas A&M (Jan. 9). The combination of senior guards Erika Arriaran and Brittainey Raven, sophomore guard Ashleigh Fontenette, junior guard/forward Kathleen Nash and senior post Kristen Nash marks the fifth lineup of the season for UT. Arriaran and Ka. Nash are the only two players to have started in all 15 games for the Longhorns this season.
LONG RANGE SUCCESS
Texas is 10-0 this season when out-shooting its opponent from 3-point range. The Longhorns shot a season-high 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from beyond the arc against North Texas (Nov. 20), and have five or more 3-point baskets in 12 of their 14 games, including a season-high 12 3FG against Oral Roberts (Dec. 1). UT has made nine or more treys in four of its last five games.
PASSING IT AROUND
When the Longhorns recorded a season-high 25 assists against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Jan. 2, it also marked the third time they dished out 20+ assists in a four-game span (Texas Southern, Dec. 20 - Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Jan. 2). Texas is averaging 15.0 apg overall, and 18.8 apg over the last six games. Ashleigh Fontenette leads UT with 50 assists, while Brittainey Raven has added 41 and Arriaran has added 40.
HORNS PICKED SECOND IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
Texas was picked to finish tied for second in the Big 12 Conference in a preseason vote of the league’s head coaches. The Longhorns have been picked to finish second or higher in the Big 12 five times since 1997.
RAVEN NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM
Senior guard Brittainey Raven was named to the five-person Preseason All-Big 12 Women’s Basketball team in a vote by the league’s head coaches. Raven was the Longhorns’ top scorer in conference play last season with an average of 12.3 points per game (15th in the league), while notching double-figure scoring in seven of the 16 league contests.
BALANCED EFFORT
Texas is averaging 77.8 points per game with nine of its 10 players accounting for four or more points per contest. Just 2.1 ppg separate the third-through-sixth leading scorers (9.1-7.0). Six are also posting 5.0 or more points per game. Additionally, seven players are corralling 3.0 or more boards per outing.
DUO SEEING DOUBLE
Senior guard Brittainey Raven (26 points, 10 rebounds) and sophomore post Ashley Gayle (11 points, 13 rebounds) posted a pair of double-doubles in UT’s 94-83 victory over Central Michigan (Dec. 28) in the opening round of the Wyndham Miami Holiday Tournament. A pair of Texas players notched double-doubles for the first time since March 12, 2009, when Earnesia Williams and Kathleen Nash accomplished the same feat against Missouri in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. Gayle leads UT with four double-doubles through 15 games.
STREAKIN’
Senior guard Brittainey Raven concluded her second 10+ made free throw streak of the season when she missed her first attempt against Texas Southern (Dec. 20). Raven’s 14-straight made free throws began against Rutgers (Nov. 28) and spanned four games against Oral Roberts (2-of-2), Tennessee (4-of-4) and Ole Miss (5-of-5). Earlier in the season, Raven strung together 16-consecutive free throws in a three-game span. Through 15 games, Raven is hitting a 78.5 percent (51-of-65) from the line, and has nearly twice as many attempts as leading free-throw shooter Kathleen Nash (33-of-39, .846 FT). Additionally, Raven has scored in double figures for 19-straight games dating back to March 4, 2009.
