#8/#8 Texas will host #22/#22 TCU this Saturday in a top 25 matchup. Texas (17-4; 8-2) will be seeking to split the season series with the Horned Frogs (16-5; 7-3) after losing in Ft. Worth 77-79 three weeks ago. The Longhorns lead the series 40-3. The loss on January 10 broke a six game Texas winning streak. TCU will be seeking to win their first away game in the series since it started in January 1976. Texas has won 19 straight home games in this series. Coming into Saturday’s game, TCU has won seven games in a row while Texas is on a two game winning streak. TCU HORNED FROGS TCU has three players averaging double digit scoring in league play: Amy Okonkwo (#00, 6-2 Jr. F) at 16.0 ppg, Jordan Moore (#22, 6-3 Jr. C) with a 15.1 ppg average and Toree Thompson (#1, 5-10 Sr. G) at 10.5 ppg. Thompson, a former starter, missed the two games with an injury before coming in off the bench in this past Tuesday’s game vs Iowa State. Amber Ramirez (#4, 5-8 Soph. G) and Kianna Ray (#25, 6-1 Soph. G) add 9.7 ppg and 8.7 ppg to the above trio to account for 60 ppg of the Horned Frogs’ 75.9 ppg. The Horned Frogs’ inside duo of Okonkwo and Moore combine to take about a third of all FGs attempted by TCU, 208 of 592. Adeola Akomplafe (#33, 6-3 Soph. F; FG average of 50.0%) joins Okonkwo (50.5%) and Moore (53.3%) as the only players that have average at least ten minutes a game in making at least half their shots. TCU has the best 3pt FG% in league play at 39.9%. Four players rank among the top 3pt shooters in the league: 1st: Okonkwo (12-23, 52.2%), 3rd: Thompson (15-35, 42.9%), 7th: Ramirez (16-42, 38.1%) and 11th: Ray (11-31, .5.5%). Three others to watch are: Lauren Heard (#20, 5-9 Fr. G) who is 7 of 18 (38.9%), Sydney Coleman (#21, 6-1 Sr. G) at 4 of 11 (36.4%) and Dakota Vann (#24, 6-0 Jr. G) who has made 6 of 19 (31.6%). TCU is also the best in the league in FT% at 78.0% although they are only fourth in getting to the FG line. Okonkwo (4.8 FT per game) and Moore (4.6 FT per game) take almost half of the Frogs’ 20 FT attempts per game. Okonkwo (91.7%) and Moore (84.8%) take advantage of their trips to the FT line. Ramirez and Thompson are the others raising the team FT% as each has hit 13-16 FTs for 81.3%. Moore (7.4 rpg), Okonkwo (6.5 rpg) and Akomolafe (3.7 rpg) are the top three rebounders for TCU. The top distributors are Ray (3.7 apg), Jayde Woods (#15, 6-1 Soph. G)at 2.6 apg and Ramirez (2.3 apg). Ray leads the way with 2.0 spg while Okonkwo and Heard each grab 1.1 spg. Moore is the top shot blocker at 1.9 bpg. Ray averages 0.9 bpg. Ray, Coleman, Woods, Okonkwo and Moore started the last game for TCU. Oknonkwo does all her work coming off the bench. Moore is the only Horned Frog to start all ten Big 12 games. Including Moore, eight players have started in league play, ranging from Woods’ two starts to Moore’s ten. Ray averages 30.0 mpg with Okonkwo, Moore, Ramirez, Thompson and Woods all in the 20’s. Vann, Coleman and Akomolafe average playing time in the teens. All of the above players have played in at least eight games. TEXAS LONGHORNS LaShann (17.6 ppg), Ariel (15.3 ppg) and Brooke (12.2 ppg) continue to be the leaders for Texas in scoring. The three are the only ones to have reached triple digits in FGs attempted. Their combined 167-342 FGs are 55.5%-50.4% of the team’s FGs made & attempted. Add in Alecia’s totals and those percentages jump to 62.8%-59.0%. LaShann (9-24, 37.5%), Ariel (10-33, 30.3%), Brooke (12-48, 25.0%) and Alecia (4-21, 19.0%) are the primary 3pt threats for Texas. Those four have combined for 35 pters made and 126 attempted of the team’s 41 of 155 3pters. Those four guards are also primarily responsible for Texas’ 73.4% from the FT line in league play. They have the highest FT% among players averaging double digit minutes with Ariel making 93.5% (29-31), Brooke at 88.0% (22-25), Alecia hitting 78.6% (11-14) and LaShann at 74.5% (35-47). Five players account for 269 of the team’s 426 (62.7%) of the team’s rebounds: Ariel (6.8 rpg), Jatarie (5.5 rpg), Brooke (5.4 rpg), Joyner (5.4 rpg) and Audrey-Ann (3.8 rpg). Brooke is in the top spot in assist with 4.8 apg. Ariel (3.0 apg), LaShann (2.2 apg), Alecia (1.3 apg) and Joyner (1.1 apg) all average over one assist per game. Audrey-Ann has 18 of the team’s 42 blocks. Three players have at least one steal per game: Ariel (3.1 spg), LaShann (2.1 spg) and Brooke (1.2 spg). In the last two games, we have started to see Joyner become more comfortable in the court. Coming off the bench, she is averaging nearly a double double with 11 ppg and 9 rpg in 19.5 mpg. Ariel, Brooke, LaShann and Jatarie have started all ten Big 12 games. Audrey-Ann has started all nine games she has played in. Alecia has one start in the game Audrey-Ann missed. Brooke (32.7 mpg) and Ariel (30.6 mpg) top the team in minutes played per game. Seven players have seen action in all ten league game while two have been in nine and one in eight. None of the frosh saw action in the first TCU game. Rellah might be available in this game since she was projected to be available in a week a few days ago. It would be interesting to see her and Joyner at the forward positions for a few minutes. LINEUPS Projected starting lineups are based on the last game played. Texas had trouble with TCU’ s interior players in the game at Ft. Worth. Akomolafe (3-4 FGs, 1-1 3s, zero FTs, & 5 rebs), Moore (8-11 FGs, zero 3s, 3-4 FTs & 4 rebs) and Okonkwo (4-9 FGs, 2-3 3s, 2-4 FTs & 7 rebs) combined for 38 pts and 16 rebs. Texas countered with Audrey-Ann (5-7 FGs, 1-1 3s, zero FTs & 6 rebs), Jatarie (2-12 FGs, zero 3s, zero FTs & 5 rebs), Jordan (1-2 FGs, zero 3s, zero FTs & 2 rebs) and Joyner (1-4 FGs, zero 3s, zero FTs and 3 rebs) for 19 pts and 16 rebs. That battle inside will be key. The advantage should be with Texas due to Joyner’s continued improvement. In the backcourt, TCU was unable to stop Ariel and LaShann but TCU was able to counter with Thompson and Ray. STATS COMPARISON Team stats are for Big 12 games only. Texas will get another chance to stop the TCU frontcourt trio with additional help from Joyner as she continues to round into form. The Texas backcourt players will need to defend TCU’s ability to hit from BTA. Help inside cannot come at the expense of leaving the TCU guards open BTA. The league’s top three point shooting team will take advantage of any open 3pt shots. TCU is going to have to contend with stopping the Horns from penetrating and either finishing or dishing off to a teammate for the finish. One key to the last game was that TCU got 14 pts from the FT line in 20 attempts while Texas only got there 8 times although they did make 7. Playing defense without putting the Frogs on the FT line will be a significant key. Another will be being able to get inside the TCU defense for short jumpers or layups instead of settling for 3pters. Game time is 12 noon, an hour after ESPN Game Day finishes. The game will be carried on the LHN with radio broadcast provided by FM 105.3. Looks like we may get a few extra fans as a result of ESPN Game Day coming to town for the Texas-OU MBB game after the women play. Gotta wonder how that is going to affect parking. https://www.hookem.com/2018/01/29/espns-seth-greenberg-doubts-texas-fans-ad-del-conte-responds-kind-twitter/
some really nice freebies for fans & students. http://texassports.com/news/2018/1/31/ut-athletics-espn-college-gameday-rundown.aspx
http://texassports.com/news/2018/2/2/no-8-womens-basketball-preview-no-22-tcu.aspx http://www.gofrogs.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/020218aaa.html
https://www.dailytexanonline.com/2018/02/02/bench-players-look-to-make-big-impact-against-tcu https://www.hookem.com/story/joyner-holmes-effect-texas-starting-lineup-may-need-update-end-season/ I am gonna take exception with the following quote because only LaShann and Ariel have 21 starts. Both Brooke (sat out vs Northwestern State) and Audrey-Ann (sat out first Kansas game) have 20 starts in 20 games. Jatarie does 20 starts in 21 games (did not get the start vs La. Tech). Otherwise, very interesting article about the rotation.
from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/womens-basketball/article198186459.html
wow! 54.5% from BTA! Audrey-Ann with FOUR blocks in the first half. Both Brooke & Ariel in double digits.
Was that Boothe I saw in the 2nd qtr!?!?! YEAH!!!! Love me some Boothe!!! Now this is what I expected in the first game. Let's finish strong LONGHORNS!!!
Good win. That’s the kind of play that Texas needs on a consistent basis. It’s all about being consistent.
No starter for TCU hit for double digits. Moore with nine and Ray with eight were the leaders of that five. Coming off the bench, Heard (18) and Okonkwo (13) scored 31 of TCU's 65 pts. Three of the Horns' starters were in double digits with Brooke and Ariel each with 16 pts. Jatarie had 12. LaShann ended up with nine and Audrey-Ann had seven to go with six blocks. Off the bench, Joyner had ten pts, Rellah nine and Alecia eight pts. Horns dominated inside with 44 boards to TCU's 28. Ariel had six rebs while Joyner had seven to lead Texas. Horns won quarters one through three. TCU won the fourth by three pts when the Horns had their bench playing most of the quarter. Nice to see Rellah and Chasity get some minutes. Hope Destiny gets some soon. That was nice to see Joyner and Rellah playing together. That is going to be nightmare matchup for teams.
Great effort and energy all the way around. My only gripe is that with a 25-30 point lead late in the third quarter (and with a game on Monday night at WVU), I'd have hoped for more of our starters to be pulled out earlier, and more of our bench players getting a chance to play more minutes. Ariel took way too many hard spills for my liking.
1. Boothe! 2. Every game, more and more, I get nervous about Sug has our staring PG next year - the passes! Egad! 3. Joyner is at about....85% to 2016 Joyner 4. Looks like there was a discussion between the team and the coaches about rebounding 5. Texas had 21 assists to 7 for TCU! 6. Rellah is rusty, but shoots with no fear or hesitation 7. Destiny still gimpy or unplayable. : ( 8. Amazing to see AA pick up her first foul in the second half! 9. Seemed to also be an emphasis by the coaches on blocks. 10. I like the full court press at times in the game. Seatmate asked why we were going to that with a 20-30 pt lead. I told it was practice for the future game where we'll need it.
I know she has played limited minutes but, even after a month off, Rellah still has the best hands on the team. She doesn’t bobble rebounds and rarely, if ever, juggles passes. That little sequence of Sug-Joyner-Rellah for her first basket was very nice.
Pregame interview with Karen they asked her about Joyner and she said the adjustment period is over, she is not worried about Joyner anymore. She now wants more out of some others from the bench including Jada Underwood. She wants to have more players in the game in February than she did in January.
I typically agree with this. With out team in particular, we have some key pieces coming into the fold late (Holmes, Boothe, Underwood & Kali) and we still need to develop a better chemistry. We also mixed in a few new defenses so I imagine those factored into key players logging a majority of the minutes.
I had thought that our reserves would play all of the fourth with that 30 pt lead. I think the last starter left the court with about four minutes left. Thought Destiny had a chance to play today, sorry she did not get on the court in a blowout.
I think we hit a slump and now need as much time as possible with the top 6-7 to make sure the slump is gone for good. With that said, we looked great. Clearly this team plays up for a good home crowd. We need to fill the drum for the Baylor game Feb 19
except for the number, I agree with this. I think the rotation is a very solid nine to ten players instead of 6-7.
Yes, this! Much better effort today... in fact that's the team that we should be every game (although there are going to be some "off days" once in a while). I thought the variations in defense KA threw in were effective and the substitution patterns and combos made more sense... glad she made Rellah play through being winded. I saw much more effort on Boothe's part to get up and down the floor... man, that kid is talented! I would've liked to have seen Patterson thrown into the fire there in the first half (when we were up by 25 or so) to get her some minutes with some starting and/or regular rotation combinations. I felt that would've been a good opportunity to play her in a situation where the game had not quite been decided (although it was clear we came out to kick their butts) and she could've played through any potential mistakes without jeopardizing the game's outcome. Great effort overall by the players and staff... we need that consistently to be the team we are capable of being and expected to be.
Immediately after the Iowa State game last Saturday, Coach Aston told the crowd to come back for the TCU game the following Saturday as we'd be seeking "revenge". I was very surprised to hear that from her as you always hear coaches stating things like: - "we're only focused on the next game" which would have been Kansas, for us - "we don't think of it as a revenge game" So, I wonder if leaving the starters in late yesterday was to make a statement to everyone (committee) that our loss at TCU was a fluke, and that we are 20-30 points better than them. There definitely seemed to be a lot of motivation in get a convincing win.
