March 12, 2009
Complete notes [PDF]
#6 seed TEXAS (21-10, 8-8 Big 12) vs. #3 seed Iowa State (23-7, 11-5 Big 12)
Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship Quarterfinals
Friday, March 13, 2009 • 7:30 p.m. Central
Cox Convention Center (13,297) • Oklahoma City, Okla.
GAME DAY QUICK FACTS
TELEVISION: The game will be televised by FSN (Time Warner Cable Ch. 54 in Austin). Brent Stover (pxp) and Brenda VanLengen (analyst) will call the action.
RADIO: KVET (1300 AM Sportsradio The Zone) will broadcast Friday's game between Texas and Iowa State. Jon Madani (pxp) and Carol Ross (analyst) will call the game.
SERIES: Texas leads, 9-8. Last meeting: Texas 58-55 (Feb. 15, 2009; Ames, Iowa)
TEXAS IN THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP: Texas is 16-11 all-time in league tournament games.
NOTABLES
• Dos double-doubles ... Senior forward Earnesia Williams and sophomore guard Kathleen Nash combined for a pair of double-doubles in Texas' 62-59 win over Missouri in the first round of the Big 12 Championship. Nash led the Horns with 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Williams added 15 points and 11 rebounds. It was the first time since Nov. 14, 2006, that two Longhorns recorded double-doubles in the same game (Erneisha Bailey and Tiffany Jackson, vs. Texas State). Nash has a team-high four double-doubles and five in her career, while Williams recorded the first of her collegiate career.
• In the last five games ... Junior guard Brittainey Raven leads a trio of players that have averaged double-digits in Texas' most recent five-game stretch with 14.4 ppg. Sophomore guard Kathleen Nash is averaging 10.0 ppg and a team-high 8.2 rpg, while senior forward Ashley Lindsey is adding 11.0 ppg and 6.6 rpg.
• Better by the year ... Texas finished Big 12 play this season with eight league wins, marking its most since recording 13 in 2004-05. The Longhorns have steadily improved their performance in league play over the past three seasons, as they recorded six league victories in 2007 and seven in 2008.
SERIES VS. IOWA STATE
Friday's contest marks the 18th meeting between Texas and Iowa State. The Longhorns hold a 9-8 advantage in the all-time series after knocking off the Cyclones in Ames, 58-55, on Feb. 15. Texas trails Iowa State 1-2 when meeting in the Big 12 Championship, with ISU prevailing 72-68 in the first round in 2006. Additionally, Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors holds a 4-0 record against Iowa State, having twice defeated the Cyclones with Duke and Texas.
Series Quick Facts
Overall Series Record_________ Texas, 9-8
Goestenkors vs. Iowa State__________ 4-0
Most UT points________ 80 (Jan. 11, 2006)
Most ISU points_______ 87 (Feb. 20, 2001)
Fewest UT points______ 47 (Feb. 20, 2001)
Fewest ISU points______ 45 (Jan. 17, 2004)
Largest UT margin 30 (80-50; Jan. 11, 2006)
Largest ISU margin 40 (87-47; Feb. 20, 2001)
In overtime______________________ N/A
A CHECK OF THE POLLS
Texas is ranked No. 23 in the latest Associated Press poll (March 9) and No. 21 in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll (Mar. 10). Texas is 5-5 this season against AP Top 25 opponents and 2-5 in Big 12 contests.
FLASHBACK: AT IOWA STATE (Feb. 15)
(AP) - Earnesia Williams scored with 24 seconds left as No. 13 Texas rallied to beat 16th-ranked Iowa State 55-52 on Feb. 15 and pick up its fifth-straight win. Erika Arriaran scored 16 points to lead Texas (19-5, 7-3 Big 12) which snapped the Cyclones four-game home winning streak against ranked opponents. Iowa State led 52-47 with 2:04 left before Arriaran hit a pair of jumpers to pull the Longhorns within one. After a Texas stop, Williams' putback gave the Longhorns a 53-52 lead, and Iowa State lost the ball out of bounds with 11 seconds left. Carla Cortijo then hit two free throws, and Iowa State's Alison Lacey failed to get off a potential game-tying 3 as time expired. Texas's bench scored 39 points, led by Arriaran and Ashley Lindsey, who shot 6-of-9 from the field.
LAST TIME OUT: VS. MISSOURI (March 12)
(AP) - Brittainey Raven connected on a running layup in the lane with 22.8 seconds left as No. 23 Texas used a series of stolen inbounds passes to rally for a 62-59 victory against Missouri in the first round of the Big 12 tournament Thursday night. Earnesia Williams finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and provided the key pressure under the basket that led to three straight flubbed inbounds passes by the 11th-seeded Tigers (13-17). Missouri led 59-52 after a run of seven straight points from the free throw line, but Williams hit a pair of free throws and then grabbed a deflected inbounds pass and turned it into a three-point play. Carla Cortijo hit a layup off the next steal, tying the game before Raven's game-winner. Alyssa Hollins scored 16 points to lead Missouri. Kathleen Nash had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Texas (21-10).
TEXAS-MISSOURI NOTES
· Texas is now 16-11 all-time in the Big 12 Championship, and 6-2 in the first round ... UT also improved to 2-0 against Missouri in postseason league action.
· Texas trailed 31-24 at halftime, but outscored Missouri by 10 points in the second half for the 62-59 victory ... UT is now 4-8 this season when trailing at the half.
· The Longhorns shot a season-low 28.3 percent (17-60) from the field ... UT's 17 field goals tied its season low (Texas A&M, Jan. 28).
BETTER IN THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
To keep the Horns' hopes of winning a Big 12 Championship alive, seniors Carla Cortijo and Earnesia Williams have proven to step up their game in the league's postseason tournament. Cortijo has posted a total of 78 points in six Big 12 Championship games, which averages out to 13.0 per contest, nearly five points more than her career average of 8.08 in Big 12 games. The guard's lone career 20-point game also came in the postseason tournament, when she went off for 24 points to upset No. 2 seed Baylor in 2008. Williams has provided the team's defensive leadership in championship play as she has averaged 7.0 rebounds in six games (up from 4.3 during conference play), including a 13-board effort against Baylor last season and an 11-board effort against Missouri in the first round.
QUARTET EARNS ALL-BIG 12 HONORS
Four Texas players earned spots on the 2008-09 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Women's Basketball teams. Junior guard Brittainey Raven was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team for the second-consecutive year, and freshman guard Ashleigh Fontenette earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Senior guard Carla Cortijo picked up her second All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolade in as many seasons, while sophomore guard Kathleen Nash earned her first.
GOESTENKORS IN THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
In 2008, then-first year Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors led UT to a semifinal appearance in the Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship as a seven seed. The Longhorns upset the second-seeded Baylor Lady Bears in last year's quarterfinals after overcoming a 16-point halftime deficit -- the largest deficit ever overcome in the history of Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship action. Goestenkors holds a 3-1 record in the conference tournament.
HOT FROM THE FIELD
Seven Texas players are shooting 40 percent or better from the field. Junior Kristen Nash (.500) leads the Longhorns, while seniors Ashley Lindsey (.493) and Earnesia Williams (.475) rank second and third, respectively. Three Longhorns have also made 34 or more three-pointers this season (Kathleen Nash - 47; Erika Arriaran - 38; Brittainey Raven - 34).
THREE-POINT SUCCESS
Texas has converted 36.6 percent (164-of-448) from beyond the arc. UT is 11-2 on the season when shooting 40 percent or better from three-point range. The Horns recorded a season-high 13-of-23 performance (.565) at Oklahoma State (Feb. 5), and their 13 three pointers in that game stand as the second-best single-game record in Texas history.
LINDSEY IN SYNC
In the four games leading up to the Big 12 Championship, senior forward Ashley Lindsey led the Longhorns with an average of 7.5 rpg and 53.8 percent shooting from the field (21-of-39) in 27.5 mpg. She was also second on the team in scoring over that stretch, averaging 12.8 ppg.
