Individual game results — win or lose — aren’t something to dwell on for too long. Texas head coach Karen Aston said complacency can be the downfall of a competitive team.
“Forget it,” Aston said after defeating Texas Tech in Austin on Jan. 15. “You can’t let one loss turn into two back to back, and you can’t let a win cause you to relax and let your guard down. … If we don’t get in that mix of teams that are really starving, then we’re going to find ourselves on the outside looking in.”
The Longhorns, fresh off of an ugly Wednesday night home loss to Iowa State, will try to carry that hunger into their contest against the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday.
Before the two teams last met Jan. 22 in Austin, Aston praised the Jayhawks for the athleticism and energy they bring to games.
“They’re very competitive, very quick,” Aston said prior to the first matchup of the season. “They put a lot of pressure on you defensively to stay in front of them.”
Aston’s game plan worked with the players, who executed when they needed to. Despite a late rally, Kansas fell to Texas 85-77 at the Frank Erwin Center. That win allowed the Longhorns to enjoy the 1,100th win all-time for the women’s basketball program.
The biggest difference in that game was how well Texas started the second half. Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said Texas’ performance out of the locker room was the key to the Longhorns’ victory and his own team’s fall.
“The biggest difference in terms of runs was their start to the third quarter,” Schneider said after the loss to Texas. “We had possession to start the third quarter and had a wide open three and turned it down. They turned it into a transition layup, and they had one of their spurts which they’re very capable of.”
But the past — good, bad and ugly — holds no weight in Saturday’s matchup or any of Texas’ upcoming conference games. And after a poor performance in their most recent game, the Longhorns should happy with that fact.
The Longhorns had one of their worst shooting performances of the season Wednesday night against the Cyclones, putting up only 51 points — and shooting from under Aston’s game plan worked from the 3-point line.
“It was just one of those nights shots weren’t falling,” sophomore center Charli Collier said after the loss to Iowa State. “Shot selection wasn’t the best. There (in Ames), we played great. We played great at Iowa State, so it’s just one of those games.”
The Longhorns don’t have time to dwell on their previous poor performances. With a potentially tough road matchup in Lawrence, Kansas, quickly approaching, the team has to move on and prepare for what comes next.
“You don’t have a lot of time to feel sorry for yourself,” Aston said Wednesday night. “We have one day to get ready for Kansas on their home court, and we have one day (after that) before we have to turn around and play West Virginia, so there’s not a lot of time to feel sorry for yourself or have a pity party.”
