Texas Women’s Basketball Defeats Idaho 87-58
AUSTIN, Texas -- Junior forward Nneka Enemkpali posted a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Texas Women's Basketball (9-3) to an 87-58 victory against Idaho (7-7) on Saturday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center. Enemkpali, who converted 7-of-12 field goals and 7-of-9 free throws in recording her fourth double-double of the season, grabbed six of her 10 boards on the offensive glass and added two assists, two steals and a block in 25 minutes.
UT's defense, which entered the contest ranked fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.316) and seventh in scoring defense (52.6 ppg), held the Vandals to 33.3 percent field goal shooting (20-of-60) on the afternoon. The Longhorns also recorded a +15 rebound margin (50-35) in the victory.
Freshman forward Nekia Jones joined Enemkpali in double-figure scoring for the Longhorns with 11 points and five rebounds in 12 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Celina Rodrigo recorded five points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists.
Senior post Alyssa Charlston paced Idaho with a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard Stacey Barr added 12 points.
The Longhorns opened the game on a 7-0 run over the first 1:49 on the strength of a Chassidy Fussell jumper, a Fussell three-pointer and an Enemkpali layup and never trailed. After a Barr three-pointer trimmed the margin to 10-7 at the 16:14 mark, Texas used a 19-0 run during a span of 8:10 to build a 29-7 lead after a Brady Sanders free throw with 7:44 remaining.
Trailing 36-14 after a pair of Enemkpali free throws at the 4:20 mark, the Vandals closed the half on a 12-4 spurt to close within 40-26 at the half. UT held Idaho to 33.3 percent field goal shooting (8-of-24) and forced 14 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
An Ali Forde layup at the 19:19 mark cut the deficit to 12 points (40-28), but that was as close as the Vandals would get the rest of the way. The Horns answered with a 16-4 run over the next 5:22, capped by a Brianna Taylor jumper with 13:57 left, to build a 56-32 cushion. The margin never dipped below 20 points for the remainder of the contest.
Fussell suffered a right knee injury at the 12:12 mark of the first half and did not return for the remainder of the contest.
The Longhorns return to the court when they open Big 12 Conference play at No. 11/13 Oklahoma State on Thursday, Jan. 2. Tip is set for 7 p.m. Central at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
For more on this game, visit The University of Texas Official Website.
