#19/19 Texas (9-2) vs. #12/13 DePaul (10-0)
at the 2007 Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam Classic- First Round
Friday, Dec. 28, 2007 · 10 p.m. Central
at the Jenny Craig Arena (capacity 5,100) · San Diego, Calif.
Friday, Dec. 28: First Round Play (All times Central)
Appalachian State (2-8) vs. San Diego (7-4), 8 p.m.
No. 19/19 TEXAS (9-2) vs. No. 12/13 DePaul (10-0), 10 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 30 (All times Central)
Third-Place Game, 8 p.m.
Championship Game, 10 p.m.
GAME DAY QUICK FACTS
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: KVET 1300 AM (Central Texas): Craig Way, play-by-play; Chad Hastings, color
INTERNET VIDEO: None
In the National Rankings: Texas is No. 19 in both the Associated Press Top 25 (media poll) & USA Today/ESPN Poll (coaches poll)- last week, UT was No. 19 (AP) and 20th (USA Today/ESPN); DePaul is No. 12 in the AP Poll (up from 15th), 13th in the USA Today/ESPN Poll (14th last week)
Texas Head Coach Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State '85): 16th year overall: 506 games: 405-101 (.800); first year at Texas: 9-2 (.818)
DePaul Head Coach Doug Bruno (DePaul '73): 22nd year overall as women's collegiate head coach (all at DePaul- 1986-78, 1988-present): 634 games: 404-230 (.637)
SERIES INFO
All-Time Series Record: Second meeting - Texas leads the series, 1-0
Texas' Home/Away/Neutral Record vs. DePaul: 1-0 at home, 0-0 away, 0-0 at neutral sites
Series Win Streak: +1, Texas
Last Meeting: No. 21 Texas 89, DePaul 63 (Dec. 15, 1990 in Austin)
Tonight's Teams
Texas, 9-2, carries a seven-game win streak into tonight's Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam Classic first-round contest against Big East Conference member DePaul (10-0) ... This is UT's longest win streak since Texas earned eight consecutive victories in 2004-05 over a period stemming from Feb. 9-March 9... Texas is No. 19 in the AP Poll this week (same as last week) and No. 19 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll (up from No. 20 last week) ... DePaul is off to its best start in program history, and stands No. 12 in this week's AP Poll and 13th in the USA Today/ESPN ranks... Texas has only played three times in the last 20 days due to fall final examinations/Christmas holiday, winning 88-41 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Dec. 8), 76-43 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in Austin (Dec. 16) and 62-51 at No. 22/23 Arizona State last Thursday (Dec. 20).
As of Dec. 26, DePaul was one of just FOUR unbeaten Division I clubs in the country, along with No. 1 UConn (9-0), No. 10 Georgia (10-0) and Arkansas (12-0), which is 23rd in the USA Today/ESPN poll and unranked in AP poll ... DePaul last played Dec. 20 at Northwestern, winning 102-64...This will be the second meeting between these two squads, with Texas leading the series, 1-0 after a Dec. 15, 1990 win in Austin (89-63) 17 years ago.
Texas Defending Surf 'N Slam Champion- now the Maggie Dixon Classic
Last December, Texas won this very same tourney (called the Basketball Travelers Surf 'N Slam Hoops Classic), defeating Oregon State (65-64) and host San Diego (73-45) behind tourney MVP and senior forward Tiffany Jackson and sophomore forward Earnesia Williams, an All-Tournament Team pick ... Jackson had two-game totals of 46 points, 15 rebounds and six steals, while Williams added 27 points and 12 boards.
This year, the tourney is named in honor of Maggie Dixon, a 1999 University of San Diego graduate and basketball star who died suddenly on April 6, 2006 at the age of 28 after leading her West Point basketball team to its first NCAA basketball tourney in history... Dixon was in her second season as Army head coach, previously serving as assistant coach at DePaul from 2001-05.
Host San Diego or Appalachian State Up Next
Texas will face either San Diego (7-4) or Appalachian State(2-8) in Sunday's second round game (either the third-place or championship contest) ... In all-time meetings between UT and San Diego, the Longhorns are 1-0 (after last year's tourney win)... Texas and Appalachian State have never met in women's basketball play.
Against the Top 25 This Year
This is Texas's third game against a Top 25 opponent and the second consecutive such contest following the Dec. 20th win over Arizona State, 62-51, in Tempe, Arizona ... ASU was No. UT is 1-1 against the Top 25 to date, having dropped a 92-67 decision to then-No. 1 Tennessee in Knoxville on Nov. 18.
Longhorns, DePaul in the NCAA Stats- Both Teams Ranked Among Top 10 in Numerous Stats
In last week's NCAA Division I statistics, released Dec. 17, Texas was in the top 10 in four team categories, ranking No. 6 in field goal percentage defense (limiting opponents to 32.8 field goal percentage accuracy); No. 7 in scoring margin (+22.5, 78.2 ppg to opponents' 55.7 ppg); No. 8 in scoring (78.2); and 10th in blocked shots (65, 5.9 bpg)... Junior 6-3 post Ashley Lindsey has 30 blocks, ranking 12th nationally with her 2.73 bpg average.
DePaul, by virtue of its undefeated record, is one of four undefeated teams left in Division I play... The Blue Demons were No. 3 nationally in scoring, averaging 85.6 ppg; No. 6 in assists per game, dishing out 19.9 per contest; No. 7 in assist/turnover ratio, with an impressive 1.4 ratio (19.9 assists to 14.5 To's per game); No. 8 in scoring margin (+25.8, 85.6 ppg to opponents' 59.8 ppg); and 13th in 3-pointers per game (7.6)... Individually, 6-3 junior forward Natasha Williams was 10th in field goal percentage (.618) and sophmore guard Deidre Naughton 14th in 3-point percentage, hitting 44 percent of her treys (22 for 50).
Longhorn Stat Leaders
Five Longhorns are averaging 9.0 points per game or above ... Sophomore guard and team co-captain Brittainey Raven leads the squad with a 16.6 ppg average, having scored in double-figures all 11 games to date (she scored in single-digits in UT's final 2006-07 game, so her double-digit streak began this year)...Raven is first in steals (29, 2.6 spg) and second in assists (33, 3.0 apg).
In the balanced scoring attack, Raven is followed by 6-2 freshman Kathleen Nash (10.3 ppg), redshirt sophomore Carla Cortijo (10.2 ppg), junior Ashley Lindsey (10.0 ppg) and redshirt sophomore and co-captain Earnesia Williams (9.0 ppg) ... Nash leads the team in rebounding (7.2 rpg) while coming off the bench in eight of the 11 contests... Lindsey is second in rebounding (6.6 rpg) while ranking No. 12 nationally in blocks per game with 30 (2.73 bpg)... The squad's lone senior, guard Erneisha Bailey, chips in with 8.1 ppg and is third in rebounding (4.6 rpg)... The assist leader is Cortijo who has dished out 59 assists (5.4 apg).
Williams and Nash are tops in free throw percentage, with Williams hitting 86.4 percent of her foul shots (19-22) and Nash making 83.3 percent of hers (25-30) ... Texas is out-scoring the opposition by a +22.5 ppg margin (78.2 ppg to 55.7 ppg) - No. 7 nationally in scoring margin ... UT also holds a +7.7 rebound edge.
A Look at DePaul
The Blue Demons are coming off last season's 19-13 record and a NCAA Championship first round showing... DePaul is led by 5-11 senior guard Allie Quigley (19.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, team-high 42 assists), 5-10 sophomore guard Deirdre Naughton (16.1 ppg, 22 3's) and 6-3 junior forward Natasha Williams (12.5 ppg, team-highs of 9.0 rpg and 2.1 bpg) ... Quigley was last week's Big East Player of the Week with 25.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg and a 65 percent shooting accuracy (20-for-31) in wins over Northern Illinois (90-58) and Northwestern (102-64) ... DePaul is outscoring the opposition by a +25.6 ppg margin, holds a +10.7 rebounds per game margin and a positive turnover margin (+7.4).
Common Opponents
Texas and DePaul have met one common opponent this year - Missouri State, and both clubs beat MSU ... Texas played Missouri State in the season opener on Nov. 11, winning 92-55 in Austin; DePaul beat the Lady Bears on Dec. 2 in Chicago by an 80-48 margin.
Texas, Goestenkors Against the Top 25 All-Time
In Texas history, the Longhorns have met a Top 25-ranked opponent (or Top 20 when the rankings went to 20 teams) 311 times ... UT's record against ranked foes is 145-166 (.466), including a 1-1 mark this year ... In 153 all-time games against Top 25 ranked opponents, UT coach Gail Goestenkors has registered an 88-65 ecord, a 57.5 winning percentage, with all but two of those games on Duke's coaching sidelines.
Texas Versus the Big East Conference
DePaul is Texas' only opponent from the Big East Conference this regular season ... In all-time games against Big East members, Texas has won 62 percent of those contests, going 16-10 ... Texas did not face a Big East team a year ago; the Longhorns did play two Big East teams in 2005-06, going up against No. 9 Rutgers (Dec. 30, 2005) and No. 4 Connecticut (Feb. 12) ... Rutgers won 63-49 over the 19th-ranked Longhorns at Rutgers, and the Huskies also won, 74-58, in Austin against the unranked Longhorns.
All-time against the Big East, Texas is: 1-0 vs. DePaul; 2-0 vs. both Georgetown and Louisville; 1-0 vs. Marquette, Pittsburgh and St. John's; 1-1 vs. Notre Dame and Seton Hall; 6-5 vs. Rutgers; and 0-3 vs. UConn.
Both Coaches Move Into 400-Win Club This Year
Both UT's Gail Goestenkors and DePaul's Doug Bruno moved into the 400-victory circle earlier this season ... Goestenkors was the FOURTH FASTEST Division I coach to reach the 400-victory milestone, notching her 400th win in her 501st collegiate game ... That game in Texas' 59-49 victory over UAB on Nov. 25 in the final game of the Wahine Classic in Honolulu ... She became the 39th active coach to reach 400 wins... Goestenkors is in her 16th season as head coach, her first at UT after her illustrious 15-year tenure at Duke University... She led Duke to 13 straight NCAA Tournament showings, including four Final Fours in her last nine seasons, with NCAA Championship Game appearances in 1999 and 2005... Goestenkors is 405-101, standing third among active Division I coaches in winning percentage (.800).
The first coach this year to reach 400 wins was North Carolina A&T's Patricia Cage-Bibbs on Nov. 23, followed by Goestenkors ... DePaul mentor Doug Bruno, in his 22nd season, earned his 400th victory in the Blue Demons' 80-48 win over Missouri State on Dec. 2, just days after Goestenkors reached 400... He became the 40th active coach to reach the 400-win plateau ... Bruno has totaled a 404-230 record in his 22 seasons (.637) while leading DePaul to 12 NCAA appearances - including the last five years - and 11 seasons with at least 20 victories.
Raven, Cortijo Lead December Charge
UT's duo of sophomore guards Brittainey Raven and Carla Cortijo have led the Longhorn offense as of late .. As mentioned, Raven is the only UT player to be in doulbe-figures all 11 games, as she surpassed her total of last year (10 games in double-digits) while playing in all 32 contests for the 18-14 Longhorns ... In the four December games, Raven has totaled 62 points, 17 rebounds, 16 assists and 15 steals, averaging 15.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.0 apg and 3.8 spg while hitting 50 percent of her shots (23 of 46) ... Cortijo was in double-figure scoring in the last two games with a two-game total of 24 points, 10 boards and 14 assists ... In the last four contests, Cortijo has 39 points (9.9 ppg), 16 rebounds (4.0 rpg) and a 3.43 assist-to-turnover ratio with 24 assists and only seven turnovers.
That's So Raven
Sophomore Brittainey Raven is UT's leading scorer with 16.6 ppg - averaging nearly 10 points a game more than she did as a part-time freshman starter 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 11 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 18-14 Texas, 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.
Raven is coming two very balanced games, stat-wise ... Against Louisiana-Lafayette, collecting 12 points, five rebounds, six assists and a career-high eight steals ... Those were the most steals by a UT player since Tiffany Jackson had eight against against Iowa State on Jan. 11, 2006... Raven then collected 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, five boards and two steals in the victory at Arizona State.
Down the Longhorn Sidelines
· The Longhorns have great success when leading at the half, as Texas is undefeated (9-0) when leading at intermission.
· Through 11 games, underclassmen Brittainey Raven has been the team's top scorer seven times, with freshman Kat Nash gaining that honor twice and redshirt sophomore guards Carla Cortijo and Crystal Boyd once each...
· The Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam is Texas' second tournament of the year ... Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Horns went to Honolulu to participate at the eight-team, three-day Wahine Classic ... Texas went 2-1 and placed fifth, losing its first game to Virginia (86-83, Nov. 23) before starting their current seven-game win streak with victories over Kentucky (72-60, Nov. 24) and UAB (59-49, Nov. 25)...
· The Longhorns have played five home games, three true "away games" and three neutral games to date ... UT is 5-0 at home, 2-1 in away contests and 2-1 at neutral site games.
Lindsey Movin' Up in UT Blocks Record Book
Junior post Ashley Lindsey has amassed 114 blocks in her two-plus years, including a team-high 30 this season (2.8 bpg) to rank 12th nationally in blocked shots average ... The 6-4 junior currently stands No. 8 in Texas career blocks ... With three blocks against La-Lafayette Sunday, she surpassed Carla Littleton (112 rejections, 1996-2001) for the No. 8 spot, and needs seven more blocks to tie Stacy Stephens (121, 2000-04) for the No. 7 position ... The all-time blocks leader is Ellen Bayer, a 6-9 post with 289 blocks from 1986-90.
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