No. 12 Texas will host its annual Orange and White scrimmage Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Center. The game, which coincides with the Longhorns’ annual potluck, will feature 11 returning players including seniors Empress Davenport, Celina Rodrigo, Brady Sanders and Imani Boyette.
Boyette, the 2014–2015 Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year, looks to improve on a season in which she averaged almost 10 points and seven rebounds a game. She missed the first eight games of last season with a left leg injury but still received Big 12 First-Team honors. She was also named to the 2015 Big 12 All-Tournament Team.
Fellow center junior Kelsey Lang also earned conference honors on the 2014-2015 Big 12 Second Team. She averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game in a breakout season.
In the backcourt, standout sophomore guard Ariel Atkins hopes to improve on her freshman campaign in which she was named to the 2014-2015 Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Before she was sidelined for eight games with injuries, Atkins led the team in scoring and averaged more than 10 points a game.
The scrimmage will be the first look at the Longhorns’ recruiting class, which ESPN ranked No. 4, featuring forwards Christina Aborowa and Jordan Hosey, as well as guard Lashann Higgs.
Higgs, the Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year, averaged 27 points and nine rebounds per game her senior year of high school. The 5-foot-9 Bahamas native played on the same club team with Atkins, Hosey and sophomore guard Brooke McCarty.
Aborowa, a Nigeria native, is the No. 15 forward in her class and ranked No. 77 overall. She led Saints Maria Goretti Catholic High School to the Philadelphia Catholic title her junior year and a 29-1 record her senior year.
But the new recruits won’t be the only fresh faces for the Longhorns. Four-time WNBA champion Tina Thompson will make her coaching debut in Friday’s scrimmage after being named assistant coach in March.
With strong experience and fresh talent, Texas looks to compete for a Big 12 title this season. The quest for that title starts Wednesday at the intrasquad scrimmage.
