Horns barely break a sweat
AUSTIN — The message on the whiteboard in the Texas locker was simple and direct: Rebound!
The No. 2 seed Longhorns did that and a whole lot more — just about anything they wanted to, really — in dismantling No. 15 Maine 83-54 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Jatarie White scored 17 points, and the Longhorns overwhelmed the Black Bears early in bolting to a 45-18 lead by halftime. The Big 12 runners-up smothered the America East Conference tournament champions Saturday night with a combination of dominant rebounding and speed in transition led by guards Lashann Higgs and Brooke McCarty.
Higgs scored 15 points, and Ariel Atkins added 16 for Texas.
“We were really locked in,” Texas coach Karen Aston said. “It didn’t surprise me that we were ready, but we were pretty sharp.”
Texas advances to Monday night’s second-round matchup against seventh-seeded Arizona State, which slipped past 10thseeded Nebraska 73-62 earlier Saturday.
Texas used brute force and scalpel-like precision to quickly end this one.
The Longhorns (27-6) didn’t let Maine (23-10) grab a rebound for the first eight minutes. Higgs had 11 points and Atkins scored 10 by halftime as the Longhorns emptied their bench early in the second quarter.
Texas shot 68 percent and outrebounded Maine 25-4 in the first half.
Atkins, Higgs and White had their pick of shots near the basket or on 3-pointers. By midway through the third quarter, those three combined for 16 of 20 shooting.
The Longhorns are hosting the first two rounds for the third straight season and advanced to the second round for the fifth straight year. Another win would send them to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year.
Tanesha Sutton scored 16 points for Maine, which hadn’t been to the tournament since 2004.
“It frustrating when you had a good possession and you played good defense then they finally miss a shot and they get the offensive rebound and put it in. That seemed to be the story,” Maine coach Amy Vachon said.
With guards taller than half the Black Bears’ starting lineup, the Longhorns really weren’t tested anywhere on the court.
That won’t be the case when Texas faces Arizona State. The Longhorn’s front court will face a lineup as big and athletic as they are under the basket.
“Every team from now on we have to respect what they do. They are definitely a physical team,” Higgs said of the Sun Devils.