Texas women’s basketball rolled over Lamar University 95-58 Wednesday night at home, but head coach Vic Schaefer wasn’t satisfied with his team’s performance.
The Longhorns came out strong in the first half and held the Cardinals to only 14 points, but a second-half pushback from Lamar tested Texas. Schaefer gave credit to Lamar’s head coach, Aqua Franklin, who he coached at Texas A&M and later worked with at Mississippi State.
“We had the energy, the focus and the juice of somebody that doesn’t respect the game,” Schaefer said. “I thought her team showed how much they respect the game.”
The Cardinal offense put up a fight in the last two quarters. They played a physical game and haven’t scored this many points against Texas since 1995. After the game, Franklin told the media she knew it would be a difficult matchup, but she wasn’t going to shy away from a challenge. Schaefer taught her to be tough, she said, and it showed through her players.
But it was the Longhorns’ depth that bailed them out from any last-minute upsets.
Senior guard Shay Holle put up 15 points, freshman guard Jordan Lee tallied 12 and freshman forward Justice Carlton also finished the game with 15. Holle and Lee both found success on the three-point line, with Holle making three for five and Lee completing two for four.
“The standard’s the standard, no matter who we’re playing,” Holle said. “If it’s practice, if it’s a game, whatever it is, we have to hold ourselves to what we’re capable of.”
Michigan transfer Laila Phelia made her first appearance as a Longhorn. The senior guard scored eight points and played for 21 minutes.
Sophomore forward Madison Booker was missing from the lineup because of a sore hamstring and will have to be evaluated again before the next game.
Senior guard Rori Harmon had a solid night, marked by eight points and eight assists. Even though she limped to the locker room in the third quarter, she jogged back to the bench in the fourth quarter and was playing a few minutes later. Schaefer said Harmon tweaked her ankle.
The Longhorns travel to Chicago on Sunday and will take on DePaul University. To have a chance at winning, Schaefer said the team needs to be better.
“It’s part of my disdain tonight with how we played in the second half, because you go out there and do that for half in Chicago, and we’ll come back with a loss,” Schaefer said.
