Longhorn Women Seek to End Three-Game Losing Streak

The Texas Longhorns wouldn’t mind getting a little revenge on Texas Tech on Wednesday night at United Supermarkets Arena.

No, not the Longhorn men. The Longhorn women have a beef, too, and they’ll get a chance to settle it at 7 p.m. on Big 12/ESPN+.

The No. 16 Longhorns (15-6, 5-5 in Big 12) can trace their first Big 12 loss back to Jan. 5 at the Erwin Center. The Longhorns, fresh off a 62-51 win over Oklahoma State to open Big 12 play, fell to the Lady Raiders, 74-61.

How unexpected was that loss? Well, at the time, Texas was ranked No. 9. The Lady Raiders hadn’t beaten Texas in Austin since 2013 and hadn’t scored a win over a Top 10 team since 2011.

Fast forward to Wednesday and the Longhorns can’t afford another upset like that right now. Texas is coming off a pair of losses to Baylor on Friday and Sunday, losses that dropped the Longhorns into the middle of pack in the Big 12 Conference. Texas is three games back of front-running Iowa State and Oklahoma with eight games to play. A regular-season title appears out of reach. So, now, it’s about getting as high a seed as possible in the Big 12 Tournament.

Entering Wednesday’s action, the Longhorns are in sixth place.

That means getting things going on the offensive end as a whole. The Longhorns have cleared 70 points just three times in Big 12 play, the last time coming on Jan. 15 in a 73-57 win over West Virginia. Since then, the Longhorns are 3-3, and they are riding a three-game losing streak where they’ve averaged just 60.3 points.

Texas still has three players averaging double figures, and all three play on the perimeter — guards Aliyah Matharu (15.1 points), Joanne Allen-Taylor (10.4) and Rori Harmon (10.4). But Texas needs a little more consistent scoring from its forwards, led by DeYona Gaston (8.2).

Since that win over Texas, the Lady Raiders (9-12, 2-8) have gone south, losing seven of their last eight games. Still, as Texas learned, the Lady Raiders are dangerous. Stopping Tech starts with stopping Vivian Gray, who averages 19.8 points and is coming off a highly-efficient 36-point game in a loss to Kansas State on Saturday, a contest in which Gray missed just three field-goal attempts.

The Lady Raiders can spread it around, too, as three players are average at least nine points per game — Taylah Thomas (9.8), Lexy Hightower (9.1) and Bre’Amber Scott (9.0).

After facing Texas Tech, the Longhorns host Oklahoma on Saturday at the Erwin Center.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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