Pink lights, bandanas and balloons filled the Moody Center as No. 5 Texas celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness and faced the Iowa State Cyclones in what could be a pivotal game for the Longhorns. Coming into this one, the Longhorns found themselves two games back from the top spot in the Big 12 and needed this win to stay within striking distance of earning back-to-back Big 12 regular season championships.
A stellar fourth quarter propelled the Longhorns to a 21-point victory in what was a true team effort. The 81-60 win tallied 100 wins for head coach Vic Schaefer since he joined the Longhorns just four short years ago. Strong defense and lightning-fast transition offense stunned Iowa State, leaving its head coach Bill Fennelly praising the Longhorns after the game.
“I’m certainly very impressed with Texas,” Fennelly said. “Typical Texas team: big, physical, defend well and I thought they did a lot of great things.”
In the third quarter, Iowa State outscored the Longhorns 17-15, and just as momentum started to shift for the Cyclones in the fourth, a Madison Booker rejection that sent the ball into the third row quickly snuffed out any thoughts of a comeback.
The Moody Center came alive and the Longhorn fans rose to their feet, making the arena the loudest it had been all night. Texas rewarded those cheers with a transition bucket that started thanks to a Shay Holle steal who quickly threw an accurate ball across the court to Booker and the freshman forward gave a smooth touch pass to DeYona Gaston who laid it in.
This transition put the Longhorns up by 12, but the offensive onslaught by the Longhorns didn’t stop there, as later in the quarter, now up 13, Booker came up with a steal and gave a “showtime” pass to Holle who finished the play through contact putting the Longhorns up 15. After a couple more scores, Texas led 70-51, leaving both Schaefer and the Moody Center fired up.
“I’m just so proud of these kids and our team,” Schaefer said. “Their energy and effort (in) that fourth quarter was really special.”
The starting five for the Longhorns consisted of Booker, Aaliyah Moore, Holle, Shaylee Gonzales and Taylor Jones. All except Jones scored in the double figures including an 18-point and 10-assist effort from the freshman guard Booker. Jones finished with six points, but her 13 rebounds made a major difference in helping the Longhorns maintain possession while she had a tough assignment against Cyclone freshman center Audi Crooks.
“It took everybody, her (Jones) and DeYona (Gaston) were a great two-headed monster down there,” Schaefer said.
The Longhorns celebrated Schaefer’s 100th win with a confetti shower after the game. His only concern was if there was water in the cooler that would be dumped on him — Gonzales assured him it was only confetti.
“I didn’t really want water on the floor, but Shaylee (Gonzales) was real clear,” Schaefer said. “She said, ‘Coach it’s not water, just let me get to you’”.
Holle, who has been on the team since Schaefer came to Texas and has seen all 100 Longhorn victories for Schaefer, smiled from ear to ear when talking about her head coach.
“I’ve been here for all 100 I believe,” Holle said. “We’ve definitely come a long way, it’s super special to be a part of it and I’m really happy for him and proud of him.”
