Budding Texas WBB freshmen boosting Horns, now & into future

By Riley Zayas

The No. 11 Texas Women’s Basketball team has shown it’s stacked this season, and well stocked for the future to come.

When the Longhorns fell to UCLA 84-75 in the 2018 Elite Eight, they didn’t just end the season with a defeat, they lost something else — or rather, someone else.

Two someone’s to be precise, as Brooke McCarty and Ariel Atkins were staples for Karen Aston’s Texas program.
As members of her first recruiting class, the duo consistently performed to a high level, with McCarty fronting the action at the point and Atkins pouring in points at forward.

However, that loss to UCLA ended their careers on the Forty Acres and left the coaching staff looking for players who could fill the shoes left behind. When No. 1 overall recruit Charli Collier, and a trio of — Shae Routt, Joanne Allen-Taylor and Audrey Warren, along with 6’7” center Sedona Prince, stepped onto campus, it seemed the coaching staff found their answer.

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Collier’s calling is coming

Collier came to campus with a history of great success. Though her play has been a bit up-and-down at times this season, she’s come on strong of late.

Through four years at Barbers Hill High (Texas), she led the Eagles to an impressive 127-20 record on her way to earning a finalist spot for the Naismith Trophy High School Player of the Year. Collier kicked off her collegiate career with an astounding performance in the exhibition against West Texas A&M as a sign of her potential. By the end of the 91-63 Texas victory, she had 21 points, shot 100 percent from the line and pulled down 11 rebounds — six offensive.

Currently, she leads the ‘Horns in blocks and is second on the team in free throw percentage.

“Each game she looks more ready,” Aston said. “Charli will learn something each time she steps onto the floor.”

Last week as Texas topped Oklahoma, Collier, who had battled inconsistency and foul trouble, had what Aston said was “her best game as a Longhorn” with nine points and eight rebounds in 11 minutes. As game flow warranted a different style, Collier only saw three minutes in the follow-up win over Iowa State.

Warren warranting more time

Coming to Texas as one of the top wing players in the country, Warren has seen more minutes up to this point than any of the other freshmen. In fact she has started more games than all of the other freshmen combined.

Her best game came in one of the toughest nonconference contests of the season against the always top-ranked and tough Tennessee, when she put up 21 points, five rebounds and knocked down 5-of-6 free throws.

With the impressive performance, she became the first Texas freshman to score 20 or more points since Joyner Holmes in 2016-17 and earned Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors.

Aston says she sees Warren as a leader on this team already and a player who can grow in her leadership qualities as she gains more experience.

“Audrey is a quiet leader. As she grows as a player and gets more experience will become a very vocal leader for us,” Aston said.

Allen-Taylor bringing depth off bench

The only point guard in the 2018 class, Allen-Taylor joins a group of storied point guards who played in a Longhorn uniform.

A key scorer, she averaged 19.2 points per game through her 134 game high school career and earned a TABC All-State selection each of her last three seasons at Cypress Falls in Houston.

She’s also a diligent student as in all four years of high school, she never earned a grade below an A.

As point guard Sug Sutton continues to star for the Longhorns, Allen-Taylor has had limited playing time up to this point as the squad gets deeper into Big 12 play. She showed off her talents most against McNeese State early in the season, going 5-of-8 from the field and scoring a season high 11 points along with two steals.

Routt biding her time

Routt didn’t have to go far to arrive on campus. The 6’0” forward/guard played her high school basketball at nearby Akins High where she was an academic all-district and the MVP of the team her senior season.

She also possesses a strong connection to Texas as her mother, Erica Routt, scored 1,134 career points for the Longhorns.

“She will strive to be her best each everyday and will add some depth at small forward in the future,” Aston said. “I’m proud she made it to the Forty acres.”

At the time of writing, Routt had still yet to appear in a game for the Horns.

Prince recovering for next season

Prince is another top recruit who still hasn’t seen action for Texas, as a result of a leg injury. However, she comes to Texas after dominating during her prep career.

As a member of USA basketball for three straight years, Prince won bronze medals with the U16 and U17 national teams, then recently took home gold after Team USA won the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

Throughout the tournament she accumulated 22 points along with 20 rebounds. Although the 6’7” post player most likely won’t get into a game for the Longhorns in 2018-19, she will definitely add height in the post next season, especially as the team is set to lose senior Jatarie White.

Aston said regarding Prince’s injury, “We are disappointed for her, but will focus on her road to recovery with faith that she returns stronger and better than ever.”

Although Texas might have a different group of players on the court this season, they have by no means lost their success and edge.

As the season gets more and more competitive, Aston will be forced to turn to these freshmen for more often. While they might not possess a whole lot of collegiate experience, these newcomers have the skill and talent to make big plays when their numbers are called, as Collier and Warren especially have shown.

When you have players who can be a threat in every position on the floor for years to come, they change the game and long-term projection of the Longhorns as Texas seeks its place at the top of the Women’s Basketball world.

Texas takes on Kansas State on the road Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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