In its first true road game of the season, Texas women’s basketball defeated Arizona 88-75.

Playing in front of her friends and family, graduate guard Shaylee Gonzales scored 12 points. Gonzales grew up in Gilbert, Arizona, two hours away from the McKale Center in Tucson.

“(I’m) happy for her,” head coach Vic Schaefer said. “To be here and play in front of her family is just really special. It’s a special night for her and I’m really excited that we were able to do that for her.”

Texas went into halftime with a nine-point lead, but a solid third quarter performance put the team up 77-52 going into the fourth.

“We turned them over quite a bit and I think there was some transition,” Schaefer said. “Shay (Holle) obviously was very good in the first half; Rori (Harmon) found her in some really nice transition layups. We just always talk at halftime about coming out and punching first.”

Holle ended the game with 12 points and Harmon was a rebound away from a triple-double with 19 points, 11 assists and nine total rebounds. Harmon had four turnovers in the game, her highest this season. 

“We turned it over way too many times,” Schaefer said. “Uncharacteristic of Rori to have four of them, but she played a lot of minutes.”

Texas forced Arizona into 21 turnovers, and despite having more than expected, still held a 25-22 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Wildcats did dominate the fourth quarter, outscoring Texas 23-12. However, that wasn’t enough to take the lead from the Longhorns.

Over the past few games, Schaefer had talked about improving the team’s free throws. Against Long Beach State, Texas went 25 for 42 compared to a 19 for 25 over Arizona. Senior forward Taylor Jones scored eight out of nine attempts from the line.

“She’s super efficient,” Schaefer said about Jones. “She’s shooting the ball and it’s unbelievable.”

Senior forward DeYona Gaston and junior forward Aaliyah Moore, both coming back from injury, got less than five minutes of playtime. 

“(Gaston and Moore) are trying to break into the lineup,” Schaefer said. “But Amina Muhammad is playing really good. It’s hard to get those kids minutes when those guys are playing so good. Right now we’ve just got a lot of competition and that’s where I’m at, they need to compete.”

Muhammad replaced Gaston in the starting lineup as the season began, but scoring in the double figures in six out of 11 games, she has found her place in the team.

“She’s obviously the most improved player on our team,” Schaefer said before the Arizona game. “(She’s) 6 (feet) 3 (inches), long, quick, really smart. The kid’s been amazing.”

Texas will head down to the Rio Grande Valley to face UTRGV on Wednesday before returning to Moody a week later on Dec. 27 versus Jackson State.