Jan. 15, 2010
Complete game notes
#19/21 TEXAS (11-5, 0-2 Big 12) at Texas Tech (13-3, 1-1 Big 12)
Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 • 11:30 a.m. Central
United Spirit Arena (15,050) • Lubbock, Texas
GAME DAY QUICK FACTS
TELEVISION: The game will be televised nationally by FSN. Brent Stover (pxp) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst) will call the action.
RADIO: KVET-AM 1300 “The Zone” will broadcast Saturday’s game between Texas and Texas Tech. Jon Madani (pxp) and Carol Ross (analyst) will call the action.
SERIES: Texas leads, 56-25. Last meeting: Texas 77-46 (Feb. 8, 2009; Austin, Texas)
NOTABLES
• FONTENETTE’S IMPRESSIVE YEAR ... Sophomore guard Ashleigh Fontenette is off to an impressive start in 2010. In Texas’ four games since the start of the new year, Fontenette is averaging a 13.5 ppg while playing a team-high 24.5mpg. Additionally, she is contributing 3.5 apg, 2.5 rpg and 1.0 spg. Through the same stretch, Brittainey Raven and Kathleen Nash are leading UT with 14.0 ppg.
• 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 rankings (Jan. 11), 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.
• BLOCK PARTY ... Sophomore post Ashley Gayle became the fastest player in UT history to crack into the school’s all-time top 10 career blocks record. Her 115 career blocks rank ninth in school history, and her 55 blocks this season places her fourth on UT’s sophomore top 10 list. She currently ranks second in the Big 12 and eighth nationally with 3.4 bpg (Jan. 10 standings).
SERIES VS. TEXAS TECHSaturday’s contest marks the 82nd meeting between Texas and Texas Tech. Texas holds a 56-25 advantage in the all-time series, which began on Jan. 15, 1977. Both teams were victorious on their home courts last year with the Lady Raiders winning the first meeting, 65-62, on Jan. 10, in Lubbock, and the Longhorns winning 77-46 on Feb. 8, in Austin. Texas is 17-15 against Texas Tech in Lubbock and last won at Tech on March 2, 2003 (67-57).
Series Quick Facts
Overall Series Record - Texas, 56-25
Goestenkors vs. Texas Tech - 3-2
Most UT points - 98 (Dec. 9, 1981)
Most TTU points - 96 (Feb. 5, 1997)
Fewest UT points - 40 (Jan. 28, 1995)
Fewest TTU points - 43 (twice)
Largest UT margin - 48 (96-48; Feb. 17, 1979)
Largest TTU margin - 44 (84-40; Jan. 28, 1995)
In overtime - Tied, 1-1
FLASHBACK: VS. TEXAS TECH (FEB. 8, 2009)
Earnesia Williams scored 16 points to help No. 16 Texas rout Texas Tech 77-46 on Feb. 8 for the Longhorns’ third-straight Big 12 win. Erika Arriaran scored 11 points and Kathleen Nash added 10. Texas outscored Texas Tech 29-9 over the final 8:39 of the first half to take control of the game. The teams were tied at 16 when Tech senior Dominic Seals went to the bench with her second foul. The Longhorns went on an 11-0 run over 2:33 with Seals out. She returned, but quickly picked up her third foul and the Longhorns outscored Tech 18-9 to take a 45-25 halftime lead. Tech staged a 9-0 run to open the second half, but Texas answered with a 16-2 run that put the game away.
A CHECK OF THE POLLS
Texas is ranked No. 19 in the latest Associated Press poll (Jan. 11) and No. 21 in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll (Jan. 12). In her 18 years as a collegiate head coach, Gail Goestenkors has spent 270 weeks in the AP Top 25 poll, the most by any current Big 12 head coach, and a mark that ranks ninth by active coaches in AP Poll history.
LAST TIME OUT: AT #11/9 NEBRASKA (JAN. 12)
Yvonne Turner matched her career best with five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 21 points as Nebraska held on to beat Texas 91-79. Dominique Kelley added 18 points and Cory Montgomery 16 for the Cornhuskers (15-0, 2-0 Big 12). Turner hit three 3s and scored 11 points during a 21-5 run over the first and second halves that gave Nebraska its biggest lead at 63-46. Texas (11-5, 0-2) pulled to 77-72 on Brittainey Raven’s 3-pointer with 6:47 left. The Longhorns had three chances to make it a one-possession game, but Cokie Reed missed two free throws, Raven was called for a charge and Lauren Flores committed a turnover. Griffin scored the next six points to give the Huskers a nine-point cushion with under 3 minutes to play.
HITTING THE BOARDS
Texas has dominated the boards by a double-digit rebounding margin (+10.5) in its 11 victories and enters Saturday’s game at Texas Tech with a +5.8 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). Junior guard Kathleen Nash leads the Longhorns with 7.3 boards per game, while sophomore post Ashley Gayle 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 16 games for the Longhorns this year.
LONG RANGE SUCCESS
Texas is 10-1 this season when outshooting 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 had five or more 3-point baskets in 13 of their 16 games, including a season-high 12 3FG against Oral Roberts (Dec. 1). UT has made eight or more treys in five of its last six 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 15.1 apg overall, and 17.7 apg over the last seven games. Ashleigh Fontenette leads UT with 53 assists, while Brittainey Raven has added 45 and Arriaran has passed out 42.
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 77.9 points per game with nine of its 10 players accounting for four or more points per contest. Just 1.8 ppg separate the third-through-fifth leading scorers (9.1-7.3). Seven 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 16 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 20 of her last games dating back to March 4, 2009.
RAVEN CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Singing karaoke is one of senior guard Brittainey Raven’s favorite hobbies, but she isn’t climbing the musical charts just yet. Instead, she’s climbing Texas’ all-time leading scorer chart after becoming the 33rd player in school history to surpass the 1,000-point mark last season. Raven currently ranks 17th with 1,470 career points.
Texas 1,000 Career Points Club Milestones
Rank Points Name Years
1. 2,523 Annette Smith 1981-86
5. 1,917 Tiffany Jackson 2003-07
T9. 1,708 Stacy Stephens 2000-04
Heather Schreiber 2001-05
15. 1,518 Kim Basinger 1976-79
16. 1,485 Yulonda Wimbish 1984-88
17. 1,470 Brittainey Raven 2006-present
POWER IN THE POST POSITION
With a pair of 6-4 posts in sophomore Ashley Gayle and freshman Cokie Reed, UT’s frontcourt is proving to be a serious threat to opponents’ offensive attacks. Together, the duo is averaging 11.8 rpg (Gayle - 7.2, Reed - 4.6), and have accounted for 73 of Texas’ 106 blocks (Gayle - 55, Reed - 18).
