After struggling offensively against Liberty on Sunday, Texas women’s basketball recorded 61 points in the first half of its 110-64 win over UT-Arlington.
Texas’ score at halftime was nearly double the number it was going into halftime against Liberty when the Longhorns only scored 31 points before the break.
“Coach (Schaefer) always says the ball will find the right person,” senior guard Shay Holle said. “We have too many good players to be taking bad shots, so if we’re just patient we’ll always find a good shot, and I think we did a much better job of that today.”
Though the team had reached the 100-point mark in recent exhibition games, the last time it had scored in the triple digits in a regular season game was in December 2022 with a 107-54 win over Alabama State.
Six Longhorns ended the game with more than 10 points.
Senior forward Taylor Jones scored the first six points for Texas and reached double digits five minutes into the fourth quarter, in what would be a 21-point game for her, leading the team. Junior guard Rori Harmon joined Jones at the double-digit points mark by the end of the second quarter with 14 points at halftime and 20 by the end of the game.
“We executed some good stuff,” head coach Vic Schaefer said. “I’m really pleased at how we played from a chemistry standpoint.”
Holle, freshman forward Madison Booker and fifth-year guard Shaylee Gonzales also tallied double-digit points in the third quarter. Despite feeling sick leading up to the game, senior forward Khadija Faye scored 10 points in just 11 minutes of playing time. Holle finished the game with 17 points, a career high.
“We talked about it last game,” Holle said. “We had an emphasis on we want to win every 50/50 ball every single game and for me that definitely is (the emphasis). I think that’s just a good energy to play too. When teammates see your teammates hustling, it’s contagious.”
After missing her freshman season due to injury, sophomore guard Jordana Codio recorded her first points for the Longhorns. Codio had her debut against Southern with only a minute of playtime. With six minutes on the court against UTA, Codio scored four points on two baskets.
“She’s just a kid that’s had some bad luck injury wise and probably hadn’t played in almost a year and a half,” Schaefer said. “For her to get some good time in there and to be 2-2 and she had three defensive rebounds, it’s always good to see her.”
Despite its offensive success, Schaefer said his team still has to work on defense and free throws. Texas ended the game with a 35.7% free throw percentage, making five out of 19.
“We’ve had three of those (bad free throw nights)” Schaefer said. “We’re way better than that. I think we have a real focus issue right now and we’ve got to practice them. We got good shooters there.”
Texas will be back at Moody Center on Sunday to face Louisiana Tech before heading to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam tournament.
