No. 22/25 TEXAS (6-2) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1-6)
Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007 · 1:30 p.m. Central
American Bank Center (8,400) · Corpus Christi, Texas
GAME DAY QUICK FACTS
TELEVISION: none
RADIO: KVET Radio 1300 AM in Central Texas with Chad Hastings (play-by-play) and Carol Ross (color commentator) calling the game.
In the National Rankings: Texas is No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 (media poll) & No. 25, USA Today/ESPN Preseason Poll (coaches poll)
Texas Head Coach Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State '85): 16th year overall: 503 games: 402-101 (.799); first year at Texas: 6-2 (.750)
TAMUCC Head Coach Robert Robinson (Sam Houston State '89): 2nd year overall as collegiate head coach (both at TAMUCC): 38 games: 16-22 (.421)
SERIES INFO
All-Time Series Record: fourth meeting - Texas leads the series, 3-0
Texas' Home/Away/Neutral Record vs. TAMUCC: 3-0 at home, 0-0 away, 0-0 at neutral sites
Series Win Streak: +3, Texas
Last Meeting: Texas 73, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 68 (Dec. 21, 2006, in Austin)
Goestenkors All-Time vs. TAMUCC: 0-0
TICKET INFORMATION
Call the American Bank Center box office at 361-826-4744. The arena box office also will be open two hours before Saturday's 1:30 p.m. start.
The Teams
Texas (6-2) carries a four-game win streak into today's game against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, who stand 1-6 ... The Islanders hail from the Southland Conference and play all their home games off-campus at Corpus Christi's four-year old American Bank Center arena ... Texas is ranked No. 22 in this week's AP Poll - up two spots from last week - and are No. 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Poll for the second straight week.
In most recent action, head coach Gail Goestenkors' Longhorns rolled over Sam Houston State last Sunday (Dec. 2) in Austin at the Erwin Center, 91-41, behind a game-high 19 points and career-best seven assists from sophomore guard Brittainey Raven and 12 points apiece from redshirt sophomore forward Earnesia Williams and junior post Ashley Lindsey ... TAMUCC snapped its' six-game losing streak by picking up their first win of the season last Saturday, 71-53, over Tennessee-Martin in Corpus Christi ... TAMUCC scored the game's first 19 points and was led by 5-8 senior guard Mercedes Cooper (13 points) en route to its season-high 71 points.
Texas is averaging 79.2 points per game, out-scoring the opposition by 19.5 ppg, while TAMUCC scores 54.6 ppg and has been outscored by 8.1 points per game, as the opposition averages 62.7 ppg.
Texas Stat Leaders
Five Longhorns are averaging 9.9 points per game or above ... Sophomore guard and team co-captain Brittainey Raven leads the way with 17.5 ppg ... Raven has been the lone Longhorn in double-figure scoring in each of the eight games ... Raven also is first in minutes played (31.3 mpg), second in steals (17, 2.2 spg) and in assists (24, 3.0 apg).
Freshman guard Kathleen Nash averages 11.3 ppg and also is second in rebounding (6.8 rpg)... The 6-2 rangy rookie is impressively hitting 44 percent of her shots from 3-point range, going 11 for 25 in treys... Nash also is third on the squad with 14 steals (1.8 spg) and makes 88 percent of her free throws (21-24) ... Rounding out the double-figure scorers is 6-4 junior post Ashley Lindsey (10.9 ppg) ... Lindsey also leads the club in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and blocks (26, 3.3 bpg) and leads all regulars with her 53.3 shooting percentage.
Redshirt sophomores Carla Cortijo and Earnesia Williams both average 9.9 points per contest ... Cortijo leads the squad with 40 assists for a 5.0 apg average ... Cortijo tied her season-high of seven assists against UT Arlington on Nov. 29 ... She has been clutch from the free throw line, hitting 81 percent of her free throws by going 29-for-36 ... Williams is hitting 50 percent from the 3-point line (6-12 in 3-pointers) and 13-for-14 in free throws (.929).
Texas is out-scoring the opposition by a +19.5 ppg margin (79.2 ppg to 59.8 ppg) and holds a +7.9 rebound edge as well (44.6 rpg to opponents' 36.8 rpg).
Longhorns in the NCAA Stats- Lindsey No. 7 in Blocks
Ashley Lindsey's 3.3 blocks per game rank the 6-4 junior seventh nationally in NCAA Division I block average this week ... As a team, the Longhorns stand in the NCAA top 25 in four categories, ranking No. 8 in blocks per game (6.0); No. 11 in scoring (79.3 ppg); No. 18 in scoring margin (+19.5, 79.3 ppg to opponents' 59.8 ppg); and No. 25 in field goal percentage, hitting 46.3 percent of their field goals.
A Five-Game Win Streak Would Be First Since 2004-05
A Texas win over TAMUCC would push the Longhorns' win streak to five games - the program's longest in three seasons ... This would be UT's longest win streak since Texas earned eight consecutive victories in 2004-05 over a period stemming from Feb. 9-March 9 ... Last year, Texas had four wins in a row (Nov. 20-Dec. 6) and also had four straight wins at mid-season in 2005-06.
Only Second Away Game for Longhorns
This is only the second away game for 6-2 Texas this year ... Coach Gail Goestenkors' squad stands 4-0 at home, 0-1 in away games and 2-1 at a neutral site ... The away loss was at No. 1 Tennessee (92-67, Nov. 18) ... The neutral site games were at the Jack in the Box Wahine Classic in Honolulu.
It's So Raven, Offensively
UT sophomore guard Brittainey Raven (17.5 ppg) has now been UT's leading scorer in six of the eight games as she is averaging nearly 10 points a game more than she did as a freshman last year ... Raven, chosen to the eight-member Wahine Classic All-Tournament Team in Honolulu over Thanksgiving weekend, has been in double-figure scoring all eight games ... Twice, she has scored 20-plus points, including a career-high 22 points in the season opening win over Missouri State ... Last year, playing in all 32 games for the 18-14 Longhorns, she reached double-digit scoring 10 times - with a career-high 19 points vs. Texas A&M on Feb. 28 - and finished the year with a 7.9 ppg average.
A Look at A&M-Corpus Christi
The Islanders, under second-year head coach Robert Robinson, are playing their ninth Top 25 opponent in history and are looking to score its first upset of a Top 25 opponent ... The Islanders are 0-8 all-time against ranked opponents, just missing upsetting No. 15 Baylor, 64-62, last November 30 in Waco, as BU senior Bernice Mosby sank two free throw with two seconds left to give the Lady Bears the win ... This year, TAMUCC is 1-2 at home, 0-2 in away games and 0-2 at neutral sites.
The Islanders have two players in double-figure scoring, with 6-0 junior center Elisa Beagle scoring 12.1 ppg and 5-10 sophomore guard Deziree Green netting 10.7 ppg ... Beagle also leads the squad in rebounding (7.1 rpg) and in field-goal percentage (.548, 34-62) ... Green is 13-for-41 from 3-point range (.317) ... Third in scoring is 5-8 senior guard Mercedes Cooper with 8.6 points per game ... Second-leading rebounder is 6-1 freshman Adrienne Scott with 6.1 rpg ... Scott also has a team-best 13 steals and chips in with 4.1 points per contest.
Texas Against the Southland Conference
Southland Conference opponents have been the most popular on UT's schedule to date ... Today's game marks the fourth of four games that the Longhorns will play this season against Southland Conference opponents - and the third consecutive against a SLC foes ... On Nov. 29, Texas defeated UT Arlington (76-60), then stopped Sam Houston State 91-41 (Dec. 2)... On Nov. 15, UT started its string against SLC opponents by defeating Lamar, 94-35 ... In 80 all-time games against the Southland Conference, Texas stands 66-14, for a winning percentage of 82.5 percent.
TAMUCC vs. The Big 12
The Islanders are looking for their first-ever victory against a Big 12 opponent, standing 0-12 to date ... In 12 games against Big 12 teams ... Texas is the first of two Big 12 opponents for TAMUCC this year, with the Islanders playing at Baylor on Dec. 19.
Rebounding Edge
Despite a lineup with just one player at 6-4 (Ashley Lindsey) and two at 6-3 (Kristen Nash, Aubry Cook), Texas continues to control the boards, out-rebounding all eight opponents to date ... Texas is averaging 44.6 rpg to the opposition's 36.8, as UT holds a +7.9 rebound margin per game ... Last year, led by then-senior Tiffany Jackson's 9.0 rpg and then-junior guard Erneisha Bailey's 5.3 rpg, Texas out-rebounded 16 of its 32 opponents, going 13-3 in those games .... Texas was 5-10 when out-rebounded last season.
This year, 6-4 junior post Ashley Lindsey has been inserted into the starting lineup, and she leads the way on the boards, pulling down 7.4 rpg... Freshman guard Kat Nash adds 6.8 rpg ... A year ago, Lindsey averaged 2.2 rpg, playing 11.3 minutes per contest.
Next Up: Home vs. UL-Lafayette, Then Onto the Road for Three Games
After today's game, the Longhorns break for a week during the fall semester final examination period ... Texas returns to play its final home game of the 2007 portion of the season when it hosts Louisiana-Lafayette from the Sunbelt Conference on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. (Central) at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin ... Louisiana-Lafayette went 25-9 a year ago, advancing to the NCAA Championship where they played, ironically, in Austin, as UT hosted first/second round action at the Erwin Center ... UL lost to Marquette, 87-58, in that March 17th first-round contest.
Following Sunday's game with Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas closes out the December portion of its schedule with three road games, two against nationally-ranked opponents ... Texas travels to No. 18/19 Arizona State (Thursday, Dec. 20, 7:30 p.m. Central) before going to the Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam Classic in San Diego on Friday and Sunday, Dec. 28 and 30 ... UT's first-round opponent on Dec. 28 will be No. 15/16 DePaul, with Appalachian State and host San Diego playing in the other Friday game ... Texas is the defending champion of the tourney, defeating Oregon State (65-64) and San Diego (73-45) for the title.
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