Texas Women Lose Another Heartbreaker On Final Shot
After winning 19 straight games, the Texas Women’s Basketball team has lost their last two games by a combined four points.
Texas Women’s Basketball had a chance to assert themselves as the “new sheriff in town,” as Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said Monday night. But, the Longhorns came up one play short against the Bears.
With first place in the Big 12 on the line, #6 Texas dropped a heartbreaker, 70-67, against #4 Baylor.
On the game’s final possession, Texas’s Lashann Higgs stole Baylor’s inbounds pass at half court, took the ball down the court, and found a wide-open Brooke McCarty for a three-pointer, but McCarty just missed the game-tying shot.
As the clock ran out, Longhorns head coach Karen Aston could only laugh while holding her hands on top of her head.
Baylor’s three-point win gave them sole possession of first place in the Big 12. Texas dropped to 14-2 in the conference and 21-6 overall. Meanwhile, Baylor is now 26-2 and 15-1 in the conference.
Baylor’s only conference loss of the season was two weeks ago in Waco when the Longhorns broke a seven-year drought against the Bears. But, Texas could not follow that up by winning in Austin at a packed Erwin Center. The Texas Longhorns still have not beaten Baylor at home in seven years.
Texas Women’s Basketball Done In By Fourth Quarter
The Texas Longhorns led virtually the entire first half. They even took an 11-point lead into halftime.
Then, Baylor started to creep back into the game during the third quarter. But, Texas still led by seven points at the end of the quarter. The Bears eventually broke through in the fourth quarter. The game swung by such a wide margin in the fourth that Baylor led by eight points with less than one minute remaining.
The turnaround was mainly due to Baylor’s Kalani Brown, who scored 35 points in the game. No one else even reached double figures for Baylor.
But, with the game in peril, Texas scored quick buckets, got turnovers, and had one last shot. McCarty just could not connect on her fifth three-pointer to send the game into overtime.
Just two nights earlier, Texas suffered a similar fate on the road against Oklahoma. Texas had a chance to play for overtime, but they gave up a three-pointer at the end of regulation.
Texas Longhorns Need Joyner Holmes To Regain Dominant Form
After playing good basketball for three quarters, Texas lost both the Oklahoma and Baylor games in the fourth quarter. It’s no coincidence that Joyner Holmes fouled out at the end of both games.
In both games, Holmes entered the fourth with only two fouls. But, in both games she picked up three fouls in the fourth quarter.
The result was Baylor outscoring the Horns 25-15 in the final frame. Overall in the second half, Baylor outscored Texas 45-31.
Holmes got her 12 rebounds, but she only scored 7 points on 3-14 shooting. Perhaps she is finally hitting the freshman wall after playing some really tough minutes during this hard stretch of Florida State, Oklahoma, and Baylor.
The rest of the team did not fare much better. Texas shot 35 percent on 25-71 shooting. Texas got off 17 more shots than Baylor, thanks in large part to 17 offensive rebounds. But, Texas’s shooting fell off in the second half.
Plus, Baylor took 19 more free throws, going 24-33 compared to 11-14 for Texas.
What’s Next for Texas Women’s Basketball?
Texas has to get past these tough losses by a combined four points after their 19-game winning streak.
They have two games left at home against Iowa State this weekend before wrapping up the Big 12 conference schedule in another Monday night game on the road against Kansas State.
Next Monday will represent four straight games on Monday night in the month of February.
There is a possibility that Texas could tie Baylor for First Place in the Big 12, as Baylor still has to visit Oklahoma in the last game of the season.
Next: Here's All The Streaks Texas Broke vs. Baylor in Waco
If the Texas Longhorns win out and OU beats Baylor on Feb. 27, Texas and Baylor would end up in a tie for first place leading into the conference tournament.