Texas women’s basketball takes aim at Iowa State, Kansas

By Riley Zayas

AUSTIN, Texas — “Following a game against a high-caliber team like Baylor, you’re going to get tested, exposed … whatever you want to call it,” Texas women’s basketball head coach Karen Aston said, “and then it’s how you respond to that and if you improve on the things you didn’t do well.”

Following a long break after the Jan. 31 loss to Baylor, the Longhorns improved on their miscues in their next game, escaping Lubbock Sunday with a 81-66 victory over Texas Tech, thanks in part to 20 points from Sug Sutton.

Now in the [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]second half of the Big 12 season, UT already has faced every opponent at least once in the season. This week, the Longhorns will host Iowa State at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a game that will be carried on the Longhorn Network, and then will hit the road to face Kansas at 6 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be shown on ESPN+.

Iowa State sits right behind the Longhorns in the Big 12 standings with a 6-5 conference record and is riding a two-game win streak. A positive for the Horns coming into this matchup, however, is that Iowa State hasn’t fared well on the road, with a 2-3 record in conference road games, including losses in its last two on the road. Two home games this past week helped out, as ISU knocked off Oklahoma State by 11 and then won Saturday afternoon against Oklahoma, 63-59.

The main reason for those two victories was the Cyclones’ ability to force turnovers, generating 18 Saturday against the Sooners, which led to 16 points off turnovers, and then scoring 16 off turnovers against OU compared to 12 for the Sooners. Do the math: the difference is four points, and that was the scoring margin in the game. The little things matter, as every team knows, and limiting their turnovers will be key against Iowa State and Kansas for the Longhorns, who they come into the game averaging 16 takeaways per game.

Iowa State’s Adriana Camber has had the hot hand as of late, starting the past 13 games, and knocking down 46 percent of her shots in Big 12 play. Some of her biggest plays thus far have come on the defensive end, as she’s posted 22 steals on the season, including four against Northern Iowa back in December.

Camber, who plays on the wing, has combined with guards Ashley Joens and Krisitin Scott to form a trio of perimeter threats, especially through these past 11 games of conference play. Each is shooting over 38 percent from behind the arc, and Joens leads the team in total points with 468 this season.

The season has been a rough one for the Jayhawks, who have struggled to contend with some of the league’s perennial powers, including Texas, which beat KU, 85-77, in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 22. TheJayhawks enter the week with a 1-10 conference record, sitting in dead last place in the conference and trying to snap a six-game losing streak, which started with the loss to Texas and has continued through games against TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma.

Standing at just 5-feet-7, freshman Kansas guard Zakiyah Franklin isn’t a physically imposing threat … that is, until she starts getting open looks. Franklin, who has emerged as KU’s starting point guard and does not miss often, especially from three-point range. She’s made at least one three-pointer in each of the past six ballgames, and averages 11.7 points per game. A solid ballhandler like Franklin is a piece that every team needs, and she has been one of the only consistencies in the lineup over the course of the past few games for a struggling Kansas squad that is led by first-year head coach Brandon Schneider.
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