Tough schedule offers no break
Improving Longhorns face another difficult challenge at No. 2 UConn.
After suffering another early-season defeat against a highly-ranked team, the faces of the Texas women’s basketball players reflected a mixture of dejection and hope Thursday night.
There was no joy in the 76-67 loss to third-ranked South Carolina. The Longhorns have shown improvement since losing to No. 11 Stanford and No. 10 Mississippi State in November, but improvement hasn’t translated into victories. And No. 2 Connecticut is on deck for Sunday.
“It’s too early to beat yourself up,” Texas coach Karen Aston said. “Too early to be discouraged.”
South Carolina forward A’Ja Wilson scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and the Gamecocks fought off several Longhorn rallies in the second half Thursday. The 6-foot-5 junior took over when South Carolina’s leading scorer and rebounder,
Alaina Coates, got into early foul trouble.
Whenever the Gamecocks needed a bucket, they fed the ball to Wilson, who went above and around Texas defenders, hitting 12 of her 18 shots. Coates, meanwhile, took a back seat, contributing just six points — all on free throws.
South Carolina (6-0) thrived at the foul line, connecting on 30 of 40 free throws. The 14th-ranked Longhorns, by comparison, hit 7 of their 14 shots from the free-throw line in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
Instead of griping about officials who charged Texas with 29 fouls, Aston said her players could have helped themselves by “boxing out” better and “moving their feet” to get better defensive position.
Aston, though, was pleased that her team won the battle of the boards 40-37. She singled out Kelsey Lang, who led the Longhorns in points (15) and rebounds (12) despite playing much of the game with foul trouble.
“That’s what we need from Kelsey Lang,” Aston said. “She stepped up to the plate and played.”
Despite trailing for most of the night, Texas (2-3) never quit, cutting USC’s lead to 62-59 when guard Lashann Higgs hit a pair of free throws with 6 minutes, 8 seconds to play. The Gamecocks, though, closed the game on a 16-8 scoring run to pull away.
As for South Carolina, coach Dawn Staley said her team’s defense on Brooke McCarty, UT’s leading scorer, proved pivotal. McCarty, hounded all night by Gamecocks defenders, finished with seven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field.
“We made her more of a game manager and facilitator, which helped us,” Staley said.
Lang gave credit to Wilson, saying she’s a “hard matchup” because of her size and quickness. She added that she was “not surprised” she filled in admirably for Coates, who entered the game averaging a team-high 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Aston said the team continues to show improvement but added, “I don’t feel any better about losing.”