Texas Women's Basketball took on the La Salle Explorers at the Moody Center tonight. After narrowly escaping the Richmond Spiders Sunday, the Longhorns need a statement win to get back on track. That win happened tonight as the Longhorns beat the Explorers 111-49.
Junior forward Kyla Oldacre led the team in scoring with 18 points and nine rebounds. The Longhorns were firing on all cylinders against an FCS opponent.
ring ussssss 💍🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/dujoN34Y3A
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) December 18, 2024
The one thing I didn't see coming tonight was 57 rebounds. I cleaned my glasses when I saw the stat because I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Outrebounding your opponent 57-30 is a big statement. That's the most rebounds the Longhorns have this season by a country mile.
I wish I saw that stat line when the Longhorns get to conference games this season. Here are the three takeaways from the landslide win over the Explorers.
tonight's starting 5 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/LvmgqhFSU2
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) December 18, 2024
Takeaways from Texas women's basketball's landslide win over La Salle: 3. Justice Carlton making the most of her minutes
When looking at the final scoresheet, I was pleasantly surprised at how well freshman forward Justice Carlton played. In 20 minutes tonight, she scored 17 points and six rebounds. She's been one of the three freshmen who keeps impressing Vic Schaefer this season.
It seems like she gets more minutes with every game on the court. I think Carlton could be playing in some conference games this season. If she keeps it up, she could easily be a candidate for SEC Freshman of the Year.
2. Free throw shooting
The Longhorns made 66.7% percent (20-of-30) of their free throws tonight against the Explorers. I will post their free-throw numbers in the opening paragraph when the Longhorns enter conference play. It is essential to keep track of this stat throughout the season and during conference play.
With how good the SEC Women's Basketball teams are, free throws could make a difference in the Longhorns' winning or losing games. Tonight was a good warmup test before the conference games start shortly. Let's see how many they make against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Sunday afternoon.
1. Outrebounding the Explorers by a big margin
The amount of rebounds tonight explains the final score accurately. 57 rebounds is a lot for a college basketball team in 40 minutes. I must give the Longhorns a standing ovation for how they dominated the boards tonight. Out-rebounding your opponent is key in whether a team wins during their conference games. The Longhorns have two more nonconference home games. The first one is on Sunday when the Longhorns host the Jackrabbits at the Moody Center.