BabHorn
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#8 (AP)/#8 (Coaches) Texas (25-2; 14-2) will host unranked TCU for Senior Night. Festivities start at 6:43 pm with recognition of four players and two support staff: Brady, Celina, Empress and Imani as well as Will Zinser (student trainer) and Travis Guebert (manager).
Horns lead the series 37-2, including never having lost in Austin (17-0). After Texas had won 35 games in a row, Texas and TCU split home wins in 2013-14 and 2014-15 before the Horns won in Ft. Wort this season. Saturday night, Texas will look for their first sweep since the 2013-14 season. Texas is also playing to be able to go into Waco on Monday with a chance to be co-champions with a win there.
The main scorers for the Horned Frogs are Zahna Medley (# 14, 5-6 Sr. G) and AJ Alix (# 23, 5-6 RS Soph. G) who average 16.3 and 13.1 ppg, respectively. Veja Hamilton (# 3, 5-10 Sr. G) and Jada Butts (# 15, 5-10 Jr. G/F) provide support with Hamilton scoring 9.3 ppg while Butts adds 9.1 ppg. Those four are not only the top scorers, they are the top threats to shoot. Medley (86-192; 44.8%), Alix (77-168; 45.8%); Hamilton (65-162; 40.1%) and Butts (50-107; 46.7%) are the leaders in FGs made and attempted as well as featuring the three top players in FG%. TCU leads the Big 12 in conference 3pt % at 38.9%. Alix and Medley rank second and third in the league in 3pt%. Brooke is number one, FYI. Alix is at 42.4% (36-84) while Medley is at 41.1% (40-95). They are also second in 3pt defense. Toree Thompson (# 1, 5-10 Soph. G) is at #12 in the league with a 3pt % of 31.4% (16-51). Medley is the leader in FTs made (50) and attempted (57). Her FT% of 87.7 is second on the team to Destynee Hives-McCray (# 31, 6-0 RS Sr. F) who is hitting 90.9% (10-11). Butts is second to Medley in FTs made and attempted (33-50; 66.0%).
Caitlin Diaz (# 32, 6-1 Sr. F) is the leading rebounder at 6.1 rpg. Butts (4.4 rpg) and Jordan Moore (# 22, 6-3 Fr. C) at 4.3 rpg provide support on the boards for TCU. The top four scorers have to do a lot of passing to each other for assists as they are also the top four in assists: Medley (61 assists), Alix (67 assists), Hamilton (37 assists) and Butts (26 assists). Moore has 22 blocks with Diaz second with ten blocks. One guess who the top four in steals are: Butts (34), Hamilton (23) Medley (22) and Alix (16). Thompson adds 14 steals coming off the bench.
Eight players have started at least one conference game for the Horned Frogs. Medley and Alix, each with 16 starts in 16 games, have been constants in the starting lineup. Butts, Hamilton and Carol Willie (# 55, 6-2 Jr. C) were fellow starters in the Horned Frogs last game. Seven players have gotten into every Big 12 game. One has seen action in 15 league games while another has played in 13 games. The big four (Medley, Alix, Hamilton and Butts) average between 30.0 and 33.4 mpg. Thompson, Moore and Diaz average between 17.8 and 18.9 mpg in 16 games. Hives-McCray is getting in for 13.5 mpg in 15 games. Willie has played in 13 games for an average of 9.1 mpg.
Horns will bring three players averaging double figures in scoring to their Senior Night game. These players are one senior (Imani, 12.4 ppg) and tow sophs (Brooke, 11.8 ppg and Ariel ppg). Brooke is the leader in FGs attempted with 145 (67 made, 46.2%) while Imani (74-144; 51.4%), Ariel (64-117; 54.7%) and Empress (43-133; 32.3%) have also reached triple digits in FG attempts. Kelsey (50-91; 54.9%) and Celina (20-86; 23.3%) are on track to crack that line before the end of the season. Brooke leads the team and the conference in 3pt% by hitting 30-69 for 43.5%. Other threats from BTA include Ariel (11-34; 32.4%), Empress (10-33; 30.3%); Celina (12-46; 28.3%); Brady (6-20; 30.0%) and Tasia (3-8; 37.5%). Imani is the one that gets to the FT line the most, converting on 50-61 (82.0%). Next are Ariel (30-38; 78.9%) and Empress (29-38; 76.3%). Kelsey is 81.8% from the FT line, hitting 18 of 22. Jordan is also above 80% at 81.3%.
For the first time since conference play began, the Horns don’t have anyone rebounding at a double digit clip. Imani leads with 9.6 rpg. Kelsey and Brianna average 4.6 rpg each while Celina adds 4.4 rpg. Celina is making 4.6 apg while Brooke and Empress combine for 4.2 at 2.1 apg each. Brianna tops the charts with 24 steals. Celina (22 steals), Ariel (19 steals) and Brooke 17 steals) also make life difficult for opposing ball handlers. And standing tall in the paint is Imani, the league’s leading shot blocker with 62 blocks. Kelsey has blocked 18 shots.
Imani, Brooke and Empress have been the constants in the starting lineup in all conference games. Celina has come off the bench in just one game, starting 15 games. I expect Brady to get her first start in conference this Saturday night. Ariel, Brianna and Kelsey all have at least two starts in league games. LaShann, Jordan, Tasia and Sara have seen action in at least 10 Big 12 games. Brooke (31.3 mpg), Celina (29.2 mpg), Empress (24.3 mpg), Imani (23.6 mpg), Ariel (20.7 mpg), Kelsey (19.2 mpg), Brianna (19.1 mpg) and Brady (11.6 mpg) are the players averaging over 10 mpg.
Projected starting lineup based on the last game for TCU. For Texas,on senior night, I expect all four seniors, since they are healthy, to start.
Texas______________TCU
Imani (6-7)________ Willie (6-2)
Brady (5-11)_______ Butts (5-10)
Empress (5-9)_____ Medley (5-6)
Celina (5-8)_______ Hamilton(5-10)
Brooke (5-4)______ Alix (5-6)
Willie started the WVU over Moore. I am not sure that Moore won’t return to the starting lineup against Texas. If not, she is sure to see more time than Willie unless foul trouble dictates otherwise. Medley and Thompson got free enough to hit 50% from BTA in the last game between the two teams. TCU had no answer for Imani as she had 19 pts, 10 rebs and six blocks. Nor did they have a counter when Imani and Kelsey played together. The Horns’ ability to get to the FT line made the difference in this game, even they did not shoot well from there (60%). A couple of matchups that will help determine the outcome of the game will how well Empress does shutting down Medley and how Alix manages to defend Brooke. Medley will be looking to score at least 18 points to become the career scoring leader at TCU.
Conference Team Stats_________Texas (14-2)__________TCU (7-9)
Scoring__________________________1128________________1108
PPG_____________________________70.5_________________69.2
Scoring Margin_________________+14.2 ________________-0.8
FGs Made-Att___________________417-969_____________408-954
FG Ave/Game Made-Att_________25.7-60.4____________19.4-59.5
FG%____________________________43.0%________________42.3%
2pt Made-Att___________________343-747____________297-669
2pt FGs Ave/Game Made-Att___21.4-46.7_____________18.6-41.8
2pt FG%________________________45.9%________________44.4%
3p FGs Made-Att_______________74-222_______________111-285
3pt Ave/Game Made-Att_______4.6-13.9______________6.9-17.8
3pt FG%_______________________33.3%________________38.9%
FTs Made-Att__________________220-308______________189-255
FT Ave/Game Made-Att________13.8-19.3____________11.8-15.9
FT %___________________________71.4%_______________74.1%
Rebounds_____________________661__________________550
RPG___________________________41.3_________________34.4
Reb Margin___________________+8.1___________________-5.3
Assists________________________220___________________226
APG___________________________13.75________________14.13
Turnovers_____________________248__________________260
TOPG_________________________15.5__________________16.3
TO Margin____________________+2.00________________+0.19
A/TO Ratio____________________0.89_________________0.87
Steals_________________________126__________________139
SPG___________________________7.88_________________8.69
Blocks_________________________99__________________66
BPG___________________________6.19________________4.13
Winning Streak_______________3____________________-0-
Home Win Streak_____________5___________________2
Home Attendance____________32539______________18442
Attendance Ave/Game________8-4067_____________8-2305
Score by quarters (ave)_____1st_____2nd_____3rd _____4th_____OT_____Total
Texas (14-2)___________________17.2___16.3_____18.4____18.6____-0-_____70.5
TCU (7-9)_____________________16.6___15.6_____18.1____19.2____-0-______69.3
It was a close game in Ft. Worth with the Horns pulling out a 65-58 win. Part of this could have been that the game was in Ft. Worth. Part of it could have been that the Horns were still reeling from their disastrous play against Baylor which resulted in their first loss of the season. The Horns got rebounded in that first game. Don’t expect that to happen in this one. Although TCU does take a lot of threes and took even more in the first game, resulting in long rebounds Diaz and Hives-McCray tracked down for the Horned Frogs. Imani, Kelsey and Brianna combined for 35 of Texas’ 65 points. I expect Texas to look to pound the ball inside but to also take advantage of soft spots in TCU’s zone for open mid range shots. Horns will need to keep track of Medley and Alix BTA and not let them get open looks from there. Or this could be a closer game than expected.
Hoping for a good sized crowd for Senior Night. Game time is 7 PM Saturday night. The LHN will carry the game while The Horn, 104.9 FM, will carry the radio broadcast. For those not able to come and needing to watch online, WatchESPN will carry the game online.
Texassports.com game preview:
http://www.texassports.com/news/2016/2/26/no-8-womens-basketball-preview-tcu-feb-27-2016.aspx
gofrogs.com game preview:
http://www.gofrogs.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/022616aaa.html
AAS game preview:
http://www.hookem.com/2016/02/26/womens-preview-tcu-vs-texas/
AAS story on our seniors:
http://www.hookem.com/story/so-long-seniors-texas-women-saying-goodbye-to-boyette-sanders-rodrigo-davenport/
Daily Texan story on our seniors:
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2016/02/26/senior-class-leaves-legacy
Star-Telegram game preview:
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/big-12/texas-christian-university/article62745402.html
Horns lead the series 37-2, including never having lost in Austin (17-0). After Texas had won 35 games in a row, Texas and TCU split home wins in 2013-14 and 2014-15 before the Horns won in Ft. Wort this season. Saturday night, Texas will look for their first sweep since the 2013-14 season. Texas is also playing to be able to go into Waco on Monday with a chance to be co-champions with a win there.
The main scorers for the Horned Frogs are Zahna Medley (# 14, 5-6 Sr. G) and AJ Alix (# 23, 5-6 RS Soph. G) who average 16.3 and 13.1 ppg, respectively. Veja Hamilton (# 3, 5-10 Sr. G) and Jada Butts (# 15, 5-10 Jr. G/F) provide support with Hamilton scoring 9.3 ppg while Butts adds 9.1 ppg. Those four are not only the top scorers, they are the top threats to shoot. Medley (86-192; 44.8%), Alix (77-168; 45.8%); Hamilton (65-162; 40.1%) and Butts (50-107; 46.7%) are the leaders in FGs made and attempted as well as featuring the three top players in FG%. TCU leads the Big 12 in conference 3pt % at 38.9%. Alix and Medley rank second and third in the league in 3pt%. Brooke is number one, FYI. Alix is at 42.4% (36-84) while Medley is at 41.1% (40-95). They are also second in 3pt defense. Toree Thompson (# 1, 5-10 Soph. G) is at #12 in the league with a 3pt % of 31.4% (16-51). Medley is the leader in FTs made (50) and attempted (57). Her FT% of 87.7 is second on the team to Destynee Hives-McCray (# 31, 6-0 RS Sr. F) who is hitting 90.9% (10-11). Butts is second to Medley in FTs made and attempted (33-50; 66.0%).
Caitlin Diaz (# 32, 6-1 Sr. F) is the leading rebounder at 6.1 rpg. Butts (4.4 rpg) and Jordan Moore (# 22, 6-3 Fr. C) at 4.3 rpg provide support on the boards for TCU. The top four scorers have to do a lot of passing to each other for assists as they are also the top four in assists: Medley (61 assists), Alix (67 assists), Hamilton (37 assists) and Butts (26 assists). Moore has 22 blocks with Diaz second with ten blocks. One guess who the top four in steals are: Butts (34), Hamilton (23) Medley (22) and Alix (16). Thompson adds 14 steals coming off the bench.
Eight players have started at least one conference game for the Horned Frogs. Medley and Alix, each with 16 starts in 16 games, have been constants in the starting lineup. Butts, Hamilton and Carol Willie (# 55, 6-2 Jr. C) were fellow starters in the Horned Frogs last game. Seven players have gotten into every Big 12 game. One has seen action in 15 league games while another has played in 13 games. The big four (Medley, Alix, Hamilton and Butts) average between 30.0 and 33.4 mpg. Thompson, Moore and Diaz average between 17.8 and 18.9 mpg in 16 games. Hives-McCray is getting in for 13.5 mpg in 15 games. Willie has played in 13 games for an average of 9.1 mpg.
Horns will bring three players averaging double figures in scoring to their Senior Night game. These players are one senior (Imani, 12.4 ppg) and tow sophs (Brooke, 11.8 ppg and Ariel ppg). Brooke is the leader in FGs attempted with 145 (67 made, 46.2%) while Imani (74-144; 51.4%), Ariel (64-117; 54.7%) and Empress (43-133; 32.3%) have also reached triple digits in FG attempts. Kelsey (50-91; 54.9%) and Celina (20-86; 23.3%) are on track to crack that line before the end of the season. Brooke leads the team and the conference in 3pt% by hitting 30-69 for 43.5%. Other threats from BTA include Ariel (11-34; 32.4%), Empress (10-33; 30.3%); Celina (12-46; 28.3%); Brady (6-20; 30.0%) and Tasia (3-8; 37.5%). Imani is the one that gets to the FT line the most, converting on 50-61 (82.0%). Next are Ariel (30-38; 78.9%) and Empress (29-38; 76.3%). Kelsey is 81.8% from the FT line, hitting 18 of 22. Jordan is also above 80% at 81.3%.
For the first time since conference play began, the Horns don’t have anyone rebounding at a double digit clip. Imani leads with 9.6 rpg. Kelsey and Brianna average 4.6 rpg each while Celina adds 4.4 rpg. Celina is making 4.6 apg while Brooke and Empress combine for 4.2 at 2.1 apg each. Brianna tops the charts with 24 steals. Celina (22 steals), Ariel (19 steals) and Brooke 17 steals) also make life difficult for opposing ball handlers. And standing tall in the paint is Imani, the league’s leading shot blocker with 62 blocks. Kelsey has blocked 18 shots.
Imani, Brooke and Empress have been the constants in the starting lineup in all conference games. Celina has come off the bench in just one game, starting 15 games. I expect Brady to get her first start in conference this Saturday night. Ariel, Brianna and Kelsey all have at least two starts in league games. LaShann, Jordan, Tasia and Sara have seen action in at least 10 Big 12 games. Brooke (31.3 mpg), Celina (29.2 mpg), Empress (24.3 mpg), Imani (23.6 mpg), Ariel (20.7 mpg), Kelsey (19.2 mpg), Brianna (19.1 mpg) and Brady (11.6 mpg) are the players averaging over 10 mpg.
Projected starting lineup based on the last game for TCU. For Texas,on senior night, I expect all four seniors, since they are healthy, to start.
Texas______________TCU
Imani (6-7)________ Willie (6-2)
Brady (5-11)_______ Butts (5-10)
Empress (5-9)_____ Medley (5-6)
Celina (5-8)_______ Hamilton(5-10)
Brooke (5-4)______ Alix (5-6)
Willie started the WVU over Moore. I am not sure that Moore won’t return to the starting lineup against Texas. If not, she is sure to see more time than Willie unless foul trouble dictates otherwise. Medley and Thompson got free enough to hit 50% from BTA in the last game between the two teams. TCU had no answer for Imani as she had 19 pts, 10 rebs and six blocks. Nor did they have a counter when Imani and Kelsey played together. The Horns’ ability to get to the FT line made the difference in this game, even they did not shoot well from there (60%). A couple of matchups that will help determine the outcome of the game will how well Empress does shutting down Medley and how Alix manages to defend Brooke. Medley will be looking to score at least 18 points to become the career scoring leader at TCU.
Conference Team Stats_________Texas (14-2)__________TCU (7-9)
Scoring__________________________1128________________1108
PPG_____________________________70.5_________________69.2
Scoring Margin_________________+14.2 ________________-0.8
FGs Made-Att___________________417-969_____________408-954
FG Ave/Game Made-Att_________25.7-60.4____________19.4-59.5
FG%____________________________43.0%________________42.3%
2pt Made-Att___________________343-747____________297-669
2pt FGs Ave/Game Made-Att___21.4-46.7_____________18.6-41.8
2pt FG%________________________45.9%________________44.4%
3p FGs Made-Att_______________74-222_______________111-285
3pt Ave/Game Made-Att_______4.6-13.9______________6.9-17.8
3pt FG%_______________________33.3%________________38.9%
FTs Made-Att__________________220-308______________189-255
FT Ave/Game Made-Att________13.8-19.3____________11.8-15.9
FT %___________________________71.4%_______________74.1%
Rebounds_____________________661__________________550
RPG___________________________41.3_________________34.4
Reb Margin___________________+8.1___________________-5.3
Assists________________________220___________________226
APG___________________________13.75________________14.13
Turnovers_____________________248__________________260
TOPG_________________________15.5__________________16.3
TO Margin____________________+2.00________________+0.19
A/TO Ratio____________________0.89_________________0.87
Steals_________________________126__________________139
SPG___________________________7.88_________________8.69
Blocks_________________________99__________________66
BPG___________________________6.19________________4.13
Winning Streak_______________3____________________-0-
Home Win Streak_____________5___________________2
Home Attendance____________32539______________18442
Attendance Ave/Game________8-4067_____________8-2305
Score by quarters (ave)_____1st_____2nd_____3rd _____4th_____OT_____Total
Texas (14-2)___________________17.2___16.3_____18.4____18.6____-0-_____70.5
TCU (7-9)_____________________16.6___15.6_____18.1____19.2____-0-______69.3
It was a close game in Ft. Worth with the Horns pulling out a 65-58 win. Part of this could have been that the game was in Ft. Worth. Part of it could have been that the Horns were still reeling from their disastrous play against Baylor which resulted in their first loss of the season. The Horns got rebounded in that first game. Don’t expect that to happen in this one. Although TCU does take a lot of threes and took even more in the first game, resulting in long rebounds Diaz and Hives-McCray tracked down for the Horned Frogs. Imani, Kelsey and Brianna combined for 35 of Texas’ 65 points. I expect Texas to look to pound the ball inside but to also take advantage of soft spots in TCU’s zone for open mid range shots. Horns will need to keep track of Medley and Alix BTA and not let them get open looks from there. Or this could be a closer game than expected.
Hoping for a good sized crowd for Senior Night. Game time is 7 PM Saturday night. The LHN will carry the game while The Horn, 104.9 FM, will carry the radio broadcast. For those not able to come and needing to watch online, WatchESPN will carry the game online.
Texassports.com game preview:
http://www.texassports.com/news/2016/2/26/no-8-womens-basketball-preview-tcu-feb-27-2016.aspx
gofrogs.com game preview:
http://www.gofrogs.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/022616aaa.html
AAS game preview:
http://www.hookem.com/2016/02/26/womens-preview-tcu-vs-texas/
AAS story on our seniors:
http://www.hookem.com/story/so-long-seniors-texas-women-saying-goodbye-to-boyette-sanders-rodrigo-davenport/
Daily Texan story on our seniors:
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2016/02/26/senior-class-leaves-legacy
Star-Telegram game preview:
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/big-12/texas-christian-university/article62745402.html
Loved the in game interview with Imani's mom. Put her on the recruiting trail, she just gave a golden endorsement of the Longhorn family only leaving out the janitorial staff it seemed.
