Feb. 2, 2010
Complete game notes
#17/23 TEXAS (14-6, 3-3 Big 12) at #13/13 Oklahoma (15-5, 5-2 Big 12)
GAME DAY QUICK FACTS
TELEVISION: The game will be televised regionally by Sooner Sports Network (KAUT and COX Ch. 7 in Oklahoma City, COX Ch. 117 in Tulsa). Bob Carpenter (pxp) and Debbie Antonelli (color) will call the action.
RADIO: KVET-AM 1300 “The Zone” will broadcast Wednesday’s game between Texas and Oklahoma. Craig Way (pxp) and Carol Ross (analyst) will call the action.
SERIES: Texas, 21-15. Last meeting: Oklahoma 74-62 (March 8, 2009; Austin, Texas)
NOTABLES
• CAPTAINS LEADING SCORING EFFORT ... In Texas’ last two games against Iowa State (Jan. 23) and Baylor (Jan. 31), team captains Brittainey Raven and Ashleigh Fontenette have combined for nearly 30 points per game. During the two-game stretch, Raven is averaging 15.0 ppg, while Fontenette is adding 14.5 ppg.
• ROAD TEST ... Three of the Horns’ next four games will be played on the road at Oklahoma (Feb. 3), Colorado (Feb. 10) and Kansas (Feb. 13). Their lone home game in the four-game stretch will be Sunday, Feb. 7, against Texas Tech.
• SOON TO BE TOPS ... With 62 blocks this season, post Ashley Gayle is just four shy of becoming UT’s all-time sophomore blocks record holder. She is currently eighth in the Texas career annals with 122.
• QUARTET IN DOUBLE FIGURES ... Five players are averaging double-figure scoring in Texas’ six conference game. Senior guard Brittainey Raven leads the Horns with 15.5 ppg in league play, while sophomore guard Ashleigh Fontenette is adding 11.8 ppg. Junior guard Kathleen Nash and senior guard Erika Arriaran are contributing 10.8 and 10.0 ppg, respectively.
SERIES VS. OKLAHOMA
Wednesday’s contest marks the 37th meeting between Red River rivals Texas and Oklahoma. Texas holds a 21-15 advantage in the all-time series that began with five-straight UT victories on Nov. 17, 1979, in Norman. The Sooners swept the series last year with an 89-69 win in Norman (Jan. 25, 2009) and a 74-62 victory in Austin (Mar. 8, 2009). Texas trails 7-8 when the teams meet in the Lloyd Noble Center.
Series Quick Facts
Overall Series Record - Texas, 21-15
Goestenkors all-time vs. Oklahoma - 1-4
Most UT points - 87 (twice)
Most Oklahoma points - 97 (Jan. 17, 1998)
Fewest UT points - 47 (Mar. 13, 2004)
Fewest Oklahoma points - 36 (Feb. 26, 2005)
Biggest UT margin - 36 (72-36; Feb. 26, 2005)
Biggest OU margin - 20 (three times)
In overtime - Texas, 2-0
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THE LAST MEETING: VS. OKLAHOMA (MAR. 8, 2009)(AP) - Danielle Robinson scored 17 points for No. 3 Oklahoma, and the Big 12 champions ended the regular season with a 74-62 win over No. 15 Texas on March 8, 2009 in Austin. Courtney Paris added 16 points for the Sooners, but had just six rebounds to miss her 124th career double-double in 130 games. Oklahoma built the lead as high as 27 in the second half, then watched Texas rally to within 11 in the final minute.
Ashley Lindsey scored 16 to lead the Longhorns.
A CHECK OF THE POLLS
Texas climbed two places to No. 19 in the latest Associated Press poll (Feb. 1) and No. 23 in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll (Jan. 26). In her 18 years as a collegiate head coach, Gail Goestenkors has spent 273 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: VS. BAYLOR (JAN. 31)
Earnesia Williams scored 13 points and No. 19 Texas got a much-needed boost in the Big 12 with a 61-50 win over No. 14 Baylor on Sunday. Texas (14-6, 3-3) led by 21 midway through the second half before Baylor rallied to get within seven with under 3 minutes to play. Brittainey Raven chipped in 12 points and Ashleigh Fontenette scored 11 for the Longhorns. Brittney Griner scored 21 points to lead Baylor (15-5, 2-4) but got little help offensively from her teammates as Baylor shot just 32 percent. Texas handled the 6-foot-8 freshman post player much of the game by rotating their own 6-4 forwards, Ashley Gayle and Cokie Reed, to defend her.Reed and Gayle scored eight points together and both fouled out, but their work inside and Texas’ zone defense helped deny entry passes to Griner.
RPI RELEASED
The fourth edition of the NCAA RPI was released Feb. 1 and Texas is one of seven Big 12 teams in the Top 25 at No. 14. The Big 12 is the only league with seven teams in the Top 30 and is also ranked first in RPI by both CBN and Jeff Sagarin for the ninth-consecutive week. UT’s schedule is ranked No. 9 in the CBN Strength of Schedule ratings, the third-highest of any league opponent (Oklahoma - No. 2, Texas A&M - No. 6).
LEAGUE LEADERS
In Big 12 Conference games, Texas is averaging a league-best 75.5 points per game, 38.9 3-point FG percentage and 6.5 blocks per game. Sophomore post Ashley Gayle is second in the conference with 3.2 bpg, and sophomore guard Ashleigh Fontenette ranks third with a 44.4 percent mark from 3-point range (8-of-14). Junior guard Kathleen Nash’s 86.7 FT percentage (13-of-15) is fifth.
ARRIARAN LIGHTS IT UP
Senior guard Erika Arriaran already had one memorable performance this season when she hit seven 3-point field goals against Oral Roberts (Dec. 1) for a then-career best 23 points. Then, she decided to top herself. Arriaran set a Texas record for 3-pointers in a Big 12 game when she connected eight times from long distance against Oklahoma State (Jan. 20) en route to scoring a team-best 28 points in the 77-63 win. She ranks fifth on Texas’ all-time Top 10 career list for most 3-point baskets made with 148.
TEXAS AGAINST THE BIG 12 NORTH
Texas holds an impressive 75-37 all-time record against Big 12 Conference North opponents since the league began in 1996-97. In three seasons of Big 12 regular season action, Coach G is 8-6 against her northern foes.
HITTING THE BOARDS
Texas has won the battle of the boards by a +9.0 rebounding margin in its 14 victories and enters Wednesday’s game at Oklahoma with a +4.9 overall rebounding margin. The Longhorns pulled down a season-high 57 boards against in their double-overtime win at Texas Tech (Jan. 16). Junior guard Kathleen Nash leads the Longhorns with 7.3 boards per game, while sophomore post Ashley Gayle is pulling down 6.4 rpg.
LINEUP ADJUSTMENTS
After starting Big 12 Conference play 0-2, head coach Gail Goestenkors decided to debut a new lineup at Texas Tech on Jan. 16. The combination of senior guard Brittainey Raven, sophomore guard Ashleigh Fontenette, junior guard Kathleen Nash, senior forward Earnesia Williams and sophomore post Ashley Gayle marks the sixth lineup of the season for UT and is 3-1. Ka. Nash is the only player to have started in all 20 games for the Longhorns this year.
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 (Feb. 1), Nash is fourth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage with 49.5 percent (45-of-91) 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.
LONG RANGE SUCCESS
Texas is 13-2 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 have recorded seven or more 3-point baskets in 12 of their 19 games, including a season-high 12 3FG against Oral Roberts (Dec. 1). Texas leads the Big 12 Conference with a 38.9 percent mark from 3-point range in league play.
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 14.7apg overall, and 12.3 apg in Big 12 play. Ashleigh Fontenette leads UT with 65 assists, while Brittainey Raven has added 54 and Arriaran has passed out 50.
