Texas Women Out to End Home Frustration vs. West Virginia
Playing at home is usually comfortable for the Texas Longhorns. The rest of the Big 12 is making the Erwin Center anything but comfortable as of late.
As the No. 13 Longhorns (11-3, 1-2 in Big 12) enter Saturday’s game with West Virginia (8-5, 1-2), they’re out to end a two-game league skid and find a way back into the women’s regular-season conference race.
Saturday’s game is at 7 p.m. and can be seen on the Longhorn Network.
The Longhorns are already two games back of front-running Iowa State. The Cyclones haven’t played either Baylor or Texas yet. But, both the Bears and Longhorns will get their shot next week.
For now, head coach Vic Schaefer and the Longhorns have to stop the bleeding.
Texas lost to Kansas, 70-66, in overtime on Wednesday, a result of a great performance by the Jayhawks, who hadn’t won in Austin in a decade. But, Texas contributed to its demise with 23 turnovers, scoring droughts at inopportune times and foul trouble that curtailed playing time for guard Aliyah Matharu.
A week earlier, Texas lost to Texas Tech at the Erwin Center as the Longhorns put together their worst shooting performance of the season.
The most curious part of Texas’ struggles is that it comes at a time in which the team is basically at full strength, as the program is past its COVID issues and forward Aaliyah Moore is back from injury. But the chemistry that helped Texas beat Stanford and Texas A&M, and nearly beat Tennessee, during non-conference action hasn’t materialized yet in league play.
Still, Texas is talented and dangerous. Despite her foul trouble against Kansas, Matharu hit a key 3-pointer to send the game to overtime and leads Texas with 15.5 points per game. Rori Harmon averages 11.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Joanne Allen-Taylor averages 10.8 points. Forward DeYona Gaston leads the frontcourt with 9.6 points, while Lauren Ebo leads with 6.5 rebounds.
The Mountaineers are coming off their first Big 12 win, a 64-53 win over Texas Tech on Wednesday. WVU struggled out of the gate with players out due to COVID-19, which contributed to losses to Iowa State and Kansas State. Now fully healthy, the Mountaineers are out to return to the NCAA Tournament.
Despite scoring just three points against Tech, forward Esmery Martinez is worth watching. She averages 10.7 points and eight rebounds. KK Deans is West Virginia’s leading scorer, averaging 15.2 points. Kari Niblack, Madisen Smith and Ari Gray all average at least six points. But, Smith is coming off a 15-point performance against the Lady Raiders.
Texas returns to the road next week, starting with a highly-anticipated matchup at Iowa State at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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