Nov. 13, 2008
Complete notes 
#13/13 TEXAS (0-0) vs. Dayton (0-0)
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008 · 6:30 p.m. Central
Frank Erwin Center (16,755) · Austin, Texas
GAME DAY QUICK FACTS
TELEVISION: None.
RADIO: The Longhorn Sports Network and KVET (1300 AM Sportsradio The Zone) broadcast every UT game on the statewide network. Dave Garrett (pxp) and Carol Ross (analyst) will call the action.
INTERNET AUDIO: Listen to Texas Basketball games on subscription-based Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast.
INTERNET VIDEO: Watch Texas Basketball home games on free TexasSports.TV. (Note: Due to Big 12 Conference television contracts, home games are available for viewing 72 hours after completion of the game.)
SERIES: Saturday's game will mark the first contest between Texas and Dayton.
The 35th season
Texas tips off its 35th season of intercollegiate basketball when it plays host to Dayton on Saturday, Nov. 15. Tip is slated for 6:30 p.m. at the Erwin Center. The Longhorns hold an all-time record of 843-275 (.754) in their previous 34 years of competition. UT played it's first varsity basketball contest on Nov. 26, 1974 and recorded a 68-17 victory against Huston-Tillotson. The Horns went on to post a 17-10 mark in the program's opening season.
Texas in season openers
Texas has posted an overall mark of 25-9 (.735) in its previous 34 season-opening games. The Longhorns are 1-0 in season openers under coach Gail Goestenkors.
Texas in home openers
Texas has posted an overall mark of 31-3 (.912) in its previous 34 home-opening contests. UT is 28-3 in home openers since the Frank Erwin Center opened prior to the 1977-78 season. The Horns are 1-0 in home openers under coach Gail Goestenkors.
Home court advantage
Texas' season-opening five-game homestand marks the longest stretch of contests at the Frank Erwin Center since the 1981-82 season. In February 1982, the Longhorns served host to six opponents in a 15-day span from the 3rd-18th, and went 6-0 in that stretch. Prior to 2008, the longest season-opening homestand mark was three consecutive games in 1978 and 2006.
Texas numbers under Goestenkors
In Gail Goestenkors' first year at the helm, Texas went 22-13, winning its most games since the 2004-05 season when UT finished 22-9 and also advanced to the NCAA Second Round. The Longhorns held the opposition to 37.7% field goal shooting, the third lowest FG percentage defense in Texas history, while also setting the single-season free throw percentage mark (.740). The Longhorns also finished Big 12 regular season play first in league steals for the first time in school history with 156 steals for a 9.75 pg average.
Horns at home
Texas begins its 32nd year of play in the Frank Erwin Center on Saturday night. The Longhorns have posted an all-time record of 393-68 (.852) in the building. Texas has an all-time 72-46 (.610) mark against AP Top 25 teams at home, and a perfect 2-0 record under second-year head coach Gail Goestenkors. The Horns have won 24 of their last 32 home contests.
2007-08 in review
Under the direction of first-year head coach Gail Goestenkors, Texas reached the Big Dance for the first time since 2005. For the first time in UT history, the Longhorns entered NCAA tourney play without a single player having prior postseason playing experience. Despite the challenges, the `07-08 squad claimed a 72-55 victory over Minnesota in the opening round before falling 89-55 to No. 1 Connecticut two days later.
What's back
The Longhorns return four starters (Carla Cortijo, Brittainey Raven, Earnesia Williams, Ashley Lindsey) from last year's squad that advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. When broken down statistically, Texas also returns 83.9 percent of its blocks, 81.8 percent of its scoring, 80.6 percent of its assists, 73.8 percent of its steals and 70.1 percent of its rebounding. Included in the breakdown are UT's top five scorers from last season. (Raven, Lindsey, Cortijo, Kat Nash and Williams).
Strength of schedule
In addition to facing four conference opponents ranked in The AP and ESPN/USA Today Preseason Top 25 polls, UT will take on three opponents in pre-conference contests that are also ranked: No. 7/6 Tennessee (Dec. 14 in Austin), No. 17/18 Arizona State (Dec. 18 in Austin) and No. 25/20 Old Dominion (Nov. 17 in Austin).
Arriaran returns to action
Junior guard Erika Arriaran is back in action for the Longhorns after a nearly two-year absence from the court. Arriaran suffered a left knee ACL tear with 31 second left in UT's Jan. 7, 2007 upset win over then-No. 10 Purdue, only to re-injure the same knee before the 2007-08 season began. Arriaran underwent arthroscopic surgeries in Feburary and November of 2007.
New faces
#22 Ashley Gayle (6-4, Freshman, Post)
Invited to the 2008 USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team Trials ... earned fourth-team All-American honors and named to the 2008 Parade Magazine High School All-America Girls Basketball Team ... named to the 20-player 2008 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) High School All-American Game presented by Nike ... selected to play in the prestigious McDonald's All-America Game in March ... led Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman HS to its third-straight Nevada Class 4A State Championship with 18 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks in a 65-48 title win over Reno (Feb. 22) ... named the Nevada Class 4A Player of the Year ... closed her high school career with three straight triple-doubles, totaling 31 blocks in those games ... was ranked No. 5 overall by the Blue Star Basketball national recruiting service ... No. 19 by Dan Olson's Collegiate Girls Basketball Report ... No. 29 by All-Star Girls Report ... No. 40 by HoopGurlz.com ... 2007-08 preseason Sporting News All-America Second Team ... ranked in the top 10 nationally among all power forward/post players ... 2007 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival participant ... also competed for the nationally-renown West Coast Elite AAU squad.
#12 Yvonne Anderson (5-7, Freshman, Guard)
Invited to the 2008 USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team Trials ... earned fourth-team All-American honors and named to the 2008 Parade Magazine High School All-America Girls Basketball Team ... ranked the No. 21 overall best senior by the Blue Star Basketball recruiting service ... also tabbed as the No. 7 guard and No. 42 overall recruit by HoopGurlz.com ... was a combination guard at Columbia-Hickman High School in Mo. ... a two-year Missouri All-State standout and all-area MVP after moving to Columbia when her father, Mike Anderson, was named the Missouri men's basketball head coach ... averaged 23.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.4 steals per game as a senior for the Hickman HS Kewpies ... led Hickman HS to a 20-7 mark in her senior campaign ... prior to attending Hickman HS, she was selected the 2006 Alabama State 6A Player of the Year as a sophomore at Hoover (Ala.) High School in Birmingham, where her father was head coach at UAB.
#33 Ashleigh Fontenette (5-8, Freshman, Guard)
Three-time all-state standout at Pflugerville Connally HS ... earned the 2008 Central Texas Player of the Year title with senior year averages of 17 ppg, 5 rpg, 4 apg and 4 spg ... named 2006-07 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches first-team All-State and Texas Girls Coaching Association first-team All-State ... earned MVP honors from District 25-4A as a junior.
More than one Ashley in the frontcourt
At 6-4, freshman Ashley Gayle shares the title of Tallest Longhorn with Ashley Lindsey. The duo will share duties in Texas' backcourt defense and have the potential to be serious threats to offensive attacks, as Lindsey is closing in on Texas' all-time blocks record and Gayle plays above the rim with a flat-footed, non-step vertical reach of 10-2. Lindsey's vertical jump reaches an even 10 feet. The Ashleys each notced two blocks in the Longhorns' exhibition contest against the Houston Jaguars.
Coaches' kid
To say freshman Yvonne Anderson knows a little bit about basketball would be an understatement. She is the daughter of Missouri men's basketball coach Mike Anderson (2006-present). Not only did she grow up surrounded by college basketball, Anderson was even born during March Madness 1990, the same year her father was an assistant head coach at Arkansas and on a run to the Final Four. Yvonne was born on March 8, 1990.
Year two at Texas for Coach G
The fourth all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I women's basketball history, Gail Goestenkors begins her 2nd season at Texas and sports a 22-13 (.629) mark with the Horns. She has compiled a 418-112 (.789) record in 16 years as a head coach at Duke and Texas. Along the way, she has guided her teams to a total of 14 NCAA (current streak of 14 consecutive) trips.
