Women’s basketball rallies past TCU for 65-58 win

By Blanche Schaefer

The No. 6 University of Texas women’s basketball erased an 11-point deficit in the middle of the second quarter before rallying to a 65-58 come-from-behind win Wednesday night in Fort Worth.

The Longhorns had not won in Fort Worth since 2013.

The hard-fought win arguably was UT’s closest game this season. The teams swapped buckets throughout the first quarter until TCU opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run, forcing Texas head coach Karen Aston to call a timeout. The Longhorns closed the quarter with a 9-3 run, trimming the Horned Frogs’ lead to 33-28.

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“I’m really pleased,” Aston said. “We played tentative in the first half — maybe a hangover from the loss (Sunday) to Baylor.”

Both offenses stalled in the third period, with each team going scoreless for three minutes in the middle of the quarter. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Celina Rodrigo set up a 9-2 run that brought the Longhorns to a one-point deficit at 43-42 heading into the fourth quarter.

“We showed some guts, and obviously a lot more focus in the second half,” Aston said. “(The players) really stayed focused, and our defense was much better in the second half.”

Atkins drained a three-pointer to tie the game in the third quarter at 47-47. The Longhorns and Horned Frogs traded scores until a free throw from junior guard Brianna Taylor put UT ahead for good with 5:08 remaining.

Senior center Imani Boyette recorded her sixth double-double in seven conference games with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and said after the game that the Longhorns’ renewed focus on fundamentals was vital to the team’s ability to rebound from the loss to Baylor.

“(The TCU defense) did a great job of making it hard for my guards to see me and making me work for positions,” Boyette said. “I was trying to make sure I was a presence regardless of if I got the ball.

“We just tried to make sure we refocused. (TCU) is a great team, and we knew they were going to play hard — they always play hard. We just had to make sure we focused on the details and got back to playing our type of basketball.”

Sophomore guards Ariel Atkins and Brooke McCarty added 13 points and 11 points, respectively.

The Longhorns return to Austin to face No. 19 Oklahoma at the Frank Erwin Center at 11 a.m Saturday and Kansas at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

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