Texas women’s basketball hosts West Virginia, Kansas State

By Riley Zayas

AUSTIN, Texas — In a week that surprised many fans of Texas women’s basketball, the Horns dropped two straight games, both of which they were projected to win, to Iowa State and Kansas. Coming into it’s game against UT, Kansas was in last place in the standings and previously had beaten only Texas Tech, and was on a seven-game losing skid. To make matters worse, the first time Texas played each of these teams, the Longhorns won by at least six points, but the second time around, they found themselves on the losing end, and fell by 15 or more. Kansas hadn’t beaten UT since 2013.

This came as a shock for head coach Karen Aston especially, as the disappointed coach said after the loss to Kansas.

“The Big 12 is[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] a lot tougher than people think it is,” Aston said. “Bottom line is, I think this is the best the league has been in years and you’re seeing some signs of that. Every night is pretty tough.”

All the Longhorns can do is move forward, as they now are in sole possession of third place in the conference, with TCU in second and Baylor in first. If they don’t want their fate to be the WNIT, they will have to right the ship this week in home games against West Virginia and Kansas State.

Other than Kansas, the only time this squad has lost on the road in Big 12 play is to West Virginia, when Texas fell, 68-63. The teams will meet again at 7:30 Monday in a game that can be seen on FS1.

Despite the fact that their defense was good, forcing 19 turnovers, the Longhorns’ shooting wasn’t up to par, as they hit just 36 percent of their shots from the field. In recent losses, UT’s shooting has seemed to be the difference as well. If there’s one area in which the Longhorns can not have an off day, it’s shooting, especially since West Virginia has been knocking down nearly 40 percent of its shots this season.

Just under .500 in Big 12 play with a 5-7 record, the Mountaineers, much like the Longhorns, understand that winning out appears to be a must in order to almost guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Led by redshirt junior Kysre Gondrezick and redshirt senior Tynice Martin, the Mountaineers don’t put up gaudy offensive stats, but get the job done on defense. WVU is near the bottom in most categories, but in scoring defense ranks second in the conference, allowing an average of 61.0 points per game, trailing only Baylor and four fewer than UT’s average of 65.0.

Gondrezick and Martin have created a scoring tandem that has been responsible for the majority of West Virginia’s points. Gondrezick averages 16.1 points per game and Martin 15.2. Gondrezick also has swiped 32 steals and Martin has brought down 69 defensive rebounds. In addition, sophomore post Kari Niblack leads the Mountaineers with 45 blocked shots and 160 rebounds.

Texas then hosts Kansas State at noon Saturday in a game that can be seen on the Longhorn Network.

K-State has turned some heads with three wins in its last four games, including a one-point victory on the road over West Virginia. Tied with the Mountaineers for fourth in the conference, the Wildcats will be trying to avenge their 71-63 home loss to UT.

Leading the recent winning streak has been Angela Harris, the graduate transfer from Houston who leads the team with 37 steals and 101 assists, and is scoring 11.2 points per game, the third-highest average on the team behind center Ayoka Lee and forward Peyton Williams, each of whom averages 16.0 points per game. Lee was named the United States Basketball Writers Association (USWBA) Player of the Week Jan. 28, and Williams has been named to five different award watch lists.

Prior to facing the Horns, K-State will go head to head with TCU, which plays Texas next week.

This will be a unique game as it will be held on “Exes Weekend,” when many Longhorn alumni return to the Forty.
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [habeabk] [/s2If]