#6/#8 Texas (23-5; 14-3) hosts RV/NR Oklahoma (16-12; 11-6) on Tuesday in the last regular season game for both. This game will be the Senior Night game for the following players: Brooke, Ariel and Audrey-Ann along with the following:Kelby Jones – Graduate Assistant; Adria Hardy – Student Manager; Chris Seo – Student Manager and Shirley Zhang – Student Trainer. Many thanks to our three senior players and those that toiled behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly during practices and gameday. Texas won the first game between the two in Norman, running the series record to 30-25, Texas. The win was a departure from the two previous seasons in which the teams split the games, each winning at home. A win for OU will give them sole possession of third place in the Big 12. A loss opens the Sooners up to a tie with Oklahoma State and a drop to fourth place in the Big 12 tournament rankings as OSU has swept the Sooners this season. Texas has clinched second place in the Big 12 regardless of the outcome of this game. But the Horns will want to send their seniors off on a winning note as well as continue to improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament. Neither team has lost since their last game with Baylor, although Texas played Baylor on Feb. 19 and OU played the Lady Bears on Feb. 05. OU has a four game winning streak and Texas brings a two game winning streak to the Texas-OU showdown. OKLAHOMA SOONERS Since a conversation among the seniors following a loss to TCU, OU has won six of seven games with the one loss a nine point loss to Baylor in Waco. Link to the story: http://newsok.com/sooner-seniors-spark-team-turnaround/article/5584641 OU’s starting five are all averaging in double figure scoring. Vionise Pierre-Louis (#0, 6-4 Sr. C) leads the quintet with 15.8 ppg. Shaina Pellington (#14, 5-7 Fr. PG) is next at 13.4 ppg. Another frosh, Ana Llanusa (#22, 6-0 Fr. G) is third with an average of 12.5 ppg. Two seniors, Maddie Manning (#23, 6-2 Grad. G) and Gabbi Ortiz (#21, 5-9 Sr. G) bring 12.0 and 11.5 ppg, respectively. Their bench adds 10.4 ppg. Those five starters are responsible for 85% of shots made and 86% of shots attempted. Llanusa (37.0%), Manning (39.5%) and Ortiz (40.4%) have the lowest FG%s on the team. Pierre-Louis (59.4%), Gileysa Penso (#12, 5-9 RS Jr. G; 54.8%) and Ijeoma Odimgbe (#24, 6-4 Jr. F; 50.0%) have the highest FG%s on the team. For all practical purposes, the Sooners’ 3pt attack consists of Ortiz (39-110; 35.5%), Manning (32-88, 36.4%) and Llanusa (27-88, 30.7%). LaNesia Williams (#1, 5-7 Sr. G) has taken only eight treys in conference games and made four for 50.0% from BTA. Penzo with four attempts from BTA (one made for 25.0%) is the only other Sooner to attempt a 3pter for OU in conference play. Ortiz’s 93.1% from the FT line would rank her among the best in the Big 12 but she does not have enough attempts (27-29) per game to qualify. Manning (40-51; 78.4%) has the second best FT% while Pierre-Louis is third in FT% and has the most FTs made and attempted (73-102; 71.6%). Those three are the only ones to break 70% on FTs although Llanusa at 69.8% (37-53) is close. Pellington (45-75; 60.0%) is second to Pierre-Louis in getting to the FT line. Pierre-Louis tops OU in rebounding at 9.0 rpg. Ortiz (5.2 rpg), Manning 4.3 rpg) and Llanusa (4.3 rpg) provide support on the boards. Both Ortiz (45, 2.6 apg) and Pellington (41; 2.4 apg) have exceeded 40 assists in league play. Pierre-Louis (38; 2.2 apg) shows an excellent grasp of being able to find the open player when double or triple teamed. Penzo adds 32 assists (1.9 apg) off the bench. Pierre-Louis leads the team and the league in blocked shots (48; 2.8 bpg). Odimgbe brings 1.2 bpg (19 total) off the bench. Manning and Ortiz give OU two players in the top five in steals with 2.1 spg each. Ortiz (36.0 mpg), Manning (34.1 mpg), Llanusa (33.4 mpg) and Pellington (28.1 mpg) are among the top 30 league players in minutes played per game. Pierre-Louis at 27.1 mpg is just one minute per game from also being on that list. Wiliams and Penzo average just over 14 mpg while Mandy Simpson (#3, 6-0 Fr. F) averages 10.2 mpg in the 13 games she has played in. Odimgbe has played in 16 games and average 9.8 mpg. OU has nine active players on the roster with eight of the nine seeing action in at least 16 games. Among the five current starters, only Ortiz has started all 17 Big 12 games. The other four: Manning, Llanusa, Pellington and Pierre-Louis have begun one game they played in on the bench. TEXAS LONGHORNS Texas is led in scoring by their backcourt. Ariel pumps in 14.9 ppg. Brooke adds 14.1 ppg. LaShann averages 13.6 ppg. Jatarie leads the posts with 9.1 ppg. Brooke has surged past the 200 FGs attempted with 218 (87 made; 39.9%). Ariel is likely to join her after the OU with as she currently has 185 attempts (97 made; 52.4%). LaShann leads the team in FG% at 53.9% (90-167). The Horns’ starting backcourt plus Alecia are the primary 3pt shooters for Texas. LaShann and Brooke lead with 35.3% from BTA although Brooke has over twice as many attempts as LaShann. Brooke is 30-85 while LaShann is 12 of 34. Ariel (19-55; 34.5%) and Alecia (13-43; 30.2%) provide two other snipers from BTA for the Horns. The current starting five are the only players to have reached the FT line more than 19 times. LaShanna’s 54 FT attempts tops the team while Ariel’s 41 FTs made are the best. Ariel (89.1 %), Brooke (89.7%), LaShann (72.2%) and Khaléann (2-2, 100%) are the only players to make at least 70% of their FTs. Joyner (6.1 rpg), Ariel (5.9 rpg), Jatarie (5.4 rpg), Brooke (4.8 rpg) and LaShann (3.2 rpg) are the top five rebounders among active players. Brooke (75; 4.4 apg), Ariel (2.8 apg), LaShann (44, 2.6 apg) and Alecia (31, 1.9 apg) lead the team in setting up their teammates for baskets. Texas is currently averaging 4.0 bpg but that includes Audrey-Ann’s contributes up til her injury. At the time, her 2.5 bpg were second in the league. That average would still rank her second. Without her, Texas has averaged 1.8 bpg, which would rank them last in the Big 12. In the last two games, Texas has averaged half a block per game. Ariel continues to lead with 12 blocks while Joyner has eight. The top three players in steals are Ariel (46; 2.7 spg), LaShann (30; 1.8 spg) and Brooke (25; 1.5 spg). The last four games, the starting lineup has consisted of Ariel, Brooke, LaShann, Jatarie and Joyner. The first four have started all 17 games. Joyner has four starts. Of the dozen players currently available, seven have played in all 17 games. Alecia has played in all 16 games she has been available for. Brooke is the only player to average over 29 mpg at 32.8 mpg. Jatarie, Ariel, LaShann and Alecia all average at least 20 mpg while Joyner, Jordan and Rellah all average in the teens. LINEUPS Projected starting lineups are based on the last game played. The OU team that has played the last seven games is different from the one that Texas faced in the first Big 12 game at the start of conference play as is Texas. OU’s starting five plays a lot of minutes but they are more connected and play better together. Their bench is providing quality minutes for them the few minutes they do come in. Texas has lost their primary shot blocker in Audrey-Ann which will play into OU’s favor as they like to dribble penetrate and kick out to the open player when they are unable to finish the drive. Manning will have her hands full defending Joyner. Jatarie, Rellah and possibly Mide will face similar difficulty in stopping Pierre-Louis when she gets the ball in the block. I am interested in seeing the matchup between Ariel and Llanusa and between LaShann and Pellington although LaShann could end up matched with Ortiz. The two frosh led OU in scoring in the first game. OU had no real answer for LaShann who had 25 pts. STATS COMPARISON Team stats are for Big 12 games only. Both teams depend on multiple scorers to increase the odds of scoring. Defense and rebounding will determine the winner of this game. Both are very good at stopping their opponent from scoring. Texas leads the league in turnover margin. They are 2 (Texas) and 3 (OU) in steals per game in the league. Both teams played their full rosters in the first game. I expect the same in this game although I expect Rellah and Chasity to play more than they did in the first game. OU has a lot riding in this game. A win guarantees them a third place finish in the league and, most importantly, gives them a signature win to help get into the NCAAs with a decent seed. A loss, coupled with an OSU win over TCU, ties them with OSU for third in the league but leaves them with a fourth seed in the Big 12 tournament due to losing the season series to OSU. Texas is playing for better seeding in the NCAAs as they will end up second in the Big 12 regardless of the outcome of this game. Ending the season with a win for the seniors is also a big consideration for the Horns. Especially a win over OU. Game time is 6 PM on Tuesday, Feb. 27. The game will be on FS1—in the Austin area, Spectrum 400. It will be radio broadcast on 105.3 FM.
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Ariel should be Big 12 POY . She’s the best all around player in the conference and has the stats to prove it.
While that would certainly be nice and a decent case could be made, it would be outrageous not to give it to K. Brown from BU. She has been maybe the most dominant player in all of college basketball
Definitely agree with Karen on that, not enough time to give Ariel and Brooke all they deserve for everything they've done for the program. AGC was quitely having a great year too. Hopefully she'll get back soon. Can't find the words for how much I'm going to miss them either.
http://www.normantranscript.com/spo...cle_bab1f5ba-f348-53bc-93f2-e65c8a5d77c0.html A bit of motivation for OU plus someone for our posts to concentrate on.
I am nervous about this game. OU is very good, and has apparently gotten steadily better. I hope we can forget about all the senior day hoopla, and are taking them every seriously.
https://www.dailytexanonline.com/2018/02/26/texas-seniors-prepare-for-regular-season-finale So true. Very glad they came and stayed.
The game starts at 6:00 and that's when the FS1 coverage begins also. The senior ceremony is at 5:45. Does anyone know if that will be televised, and if so, where? LHN has a Texas-Kansas repeat scheduled. I'm in Dallas and so would be unable to watch any of the local Austin channels.
They usually don't devote broadcast time to those events. IF I get there in time, I'll try to film it on my phone and upload it to youtube. But, no promises!
I talked to a friend this morning. She said she felt as if Brooke Ariel came just yesterday and can't believe they are playing their last home game. I said I feel as if they have been here forever and cannot imaging the program without them. Same result. We can't believe their time at Texas is ending. I am going to savor every last minute of every last game.
I look forward to seeing UT put a beat-down on OU, tonight. I just don't think OU matches up, skill-wise.
Early thoughts: * We had had Hosey wide open for a layup 2 straight possessions and got 0 points out of them (one taken away by a charge, one pass thrown away). * Ortiz for OU looks like she can barely make it to the rim with the ball, always surprises me that she's a decent long ball shooter. OTOH, a 3-point rate of 31% isn't that great for a player who shoots 84% on FTs so maybe there is something to it. * Our pick-and-rolls would probably work a lot better if they actually contained rolls.
We throw a lot of sloppy passes early but since then we've been doing a really job of making the right pass to the right place the instant it's open.
Yea, it was pretty weird when Rellah went down and no training staff bothered to come out. So far, so good overall. I'm still nervous, though.
I would like to see more point's out of our Post Player's. Hosey is doing a good job. But where did everybody else go 2.
Manning has made some moves that reminded me of Heather Schreiber, but we've held her in check pretty well. Pellington's been heating up though - she'll be tough to face another 6+ times over the next 3 years. Pierre-Louis has some nice touch on her post moves, but doesn't see the open player other than right in front of her, we need to be doubling her on every post-up, from the opposite wing.
Didn't realize we were enjoying a double-digit most of the second half and Joyner didn't even score her first bucket until late in the 4th quarter. First time we've swept OU in the regular season in probably a decade or longer.
Awesome to see our 3 starting backcourt each score at least 15 points. I've been waiting for that scoring distribution all season! Throw in Sug's 9 points, and they average 14 points between the four guards. Most often, post-season is about the guard play; hoping we can duplicate this type of backcourt effort in OKC. Even though our frontcourt players weren't dominating against an OU team who has only one post player threat, the weren't needed as our guards controlled just about the entire game.
1) Our bigs tonight - Meh 2) Officiating was pretty bad 3) Sug Sutton's passes - SMH 4) I'm pretty sure Destinee is being redshirted, what's Jada's reason for not coming off the bench? Doghouse? 5) Was surprised to see Jordan start, but then figured out that Karen was going to run OU into the ground first and needed her 6) I like Jordan's "bendy" body around the hoop, the ability to score in awkward positions 7) Jatarie & Joyner: STONEHANDS! 8) In case you didn't see it on TV, Brooke's Grandma (!) sang the national anthem! 9) Lot of flopping going on by OU, but refs weren't buying it 10) Ortiz - ZERO points. Outstanding defense on her
