Texas Women Dominate #2 Baylor – Biggest Win of Karen Aston Era

The Texas Longhorns Women’s Basketball team finally broke through against the Baylor Bears on Monday night.

In the biggest win of Karen Aston’s Texas coaching career, the Longhorns beat the #2-ranked Baylor Bears 85-79 in Waco. It was Texas’ first win over the Bears since 2010, dating back to the Gail Goestenkors era.

The Lady Longhorns now have sole possession of first place in the Big 12 conference at 13-0. Texas has also won 17 games in a row since losing to #1-ranked UConn in December.

To put this victory into perspective, Baylor’s only loss of the season was against UConn. And, Baylor was steamrolling opponents in the Big 12 building to this clash between 12-0 teams in conference play.

None of that mattered to Texas. The Horns led virtually the entire game, even pushing out a 15-point lead in the second quarter and 16-point lead in the third quarter. But, the Bears made a furious comeback on their home court.

Baylor even tied the game at 74 with two minutes left in the game. But, Lashann Higgs made a clutch jumper, Joyner Holmes added a layup and free throws, and Higgs sealed the game from the free throw line with 15 seconds remaining.

It was the type of win that Karen Aston absolutely needed to validate this Texas Basketball program. She had never beaten Baylor and the Longhorns were on a 14-game losing streak against the Bears.

In 13 of the previous 14 meetings, the Baylor Bears beat the Horns by double digits. But, the Longhorns took out seven years of frustration against their in-state rival with one dominant road performance.

Joyner Holmes Leads Texas Longhorns Victory

Freshman sensation Joyner Holmes is now 1-0 against Baylor. Holmes has never had to deal with the frustration of losing to an elite program like Baylor over and over again. So, she wasn’t intimidated by the moment.

Holmes scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to record another double-double. She was also clutch at the charity stripe, going 6-7 on free throws.

Texas Basketball also got big contributions from experienced players. PG Brooke McCarty scored a team-high 22 points, Ariel Atkins poured in 20 points, and Lashann Higgs scored a season-high 16 points.

The Longhorns have been waiting for a game like this from Higgs since she arrived at Texas as a High School All-American. It came at the right time in the biggest game of the season.

Meanwhile, senior center Kelsey Lang finished the game with just 1 point after being in foul trouble most of the night. But, Kelsey grabbed nine big rebounds, including a team-high three offensive boards, and recorded three blocked shots.

What Does Texas’ Win Mean?

Texas Basketball’s victory over Baylor in Waco sent shock waves across women’s basketball. In the Big 12, the Longhorns have been banging their head on the glass ceiling of Baylor Bears basketball for several years. Nationally, the Horns have not cracked the UConn glass ceiling.

When Texas lost to UConn in December, something changed. Perhaps they got some of the Huskies’ record-setting mojo and decided they wanted to set records for themselves.

First, it was a program record for Big 12 wins to start conference play. Then, it was an undefeated January. Next was a Texas record for consecutive Big 12 wins. Now, it’s beating Baylor in Waco to advance to 13-0 in the conference and win 17 in a row overall.

Texas has not received much national recognition since losing to UConn. The Horns have slowly crept back up the college basketball polls, but they have been stuck at the #12 level for weeks.

On Monday, the Horns got a courtesy bump to #11 in the latest women’s basketball poll. But, it was almost insulting not to make Texas a Top 10 team before the biggest Big 12 game of the season.

Now, Texas Basketball got their respect win to show they’re tired of being not-quite-good-enough to hang with the elite programs.

Texas will get to enjoy this win, but they know they have a huge task ahead. The Longhorns host Kansas on Saturday afternoon, then they play three very difficult games in a row.

The Lady Longhorns travel to #5-ranked Florida State on February 13 for an out-of-conference matchup. Then, it’s a trip to #19-ranked Oklahoma on Feb. 18. Don’t look ahead, but the return match against Baylor is two days later on Feb. 20 in Austin.

Texas will really see what they’re made of during this four-game stretch. Are they mature enough to beat Kansas after the huge win against Baylor? Can they hang with an elite non-conference team like FSU? Can they go on the road to beat the Sooners? Do they have what it takes to duplicate the win over Baylor on their home court in two weeks?

Next: All of the History vs. Baylor that Texas Just Ended

We’ll soon find out what this win means for the overall season. But, on this night, Texas Basketball delivered a wake-up call to the Big 12 and the rest of the country.