Texas women’s basketball probably didn’t expect to put up only 20 points in the first half against an unranked Georgia team after being named the No. 1 team in the country by the AP Poll earlier that morning.
But on the road in Athens after an eight-day bye week, the Longhorns got off to a slow start and struggled offensively. In the first 20 minutes of the game, Texas had 12 turnovers and shot nine for 31 in the field.
“It’s life on the road in the SEC,” head coach Vic Schaefer said. “We’ve got to prepare ourselves for that and be ready for that, because again, we’re going to get everybody’s best look, best shot, and certainly Georgia gave us that tonight.”
The Longhorns’ strong defense bailed them out, holding the Bulldogs’ scoring to single digits in all but the second quarter. Texas forced 25 turnovers and in the second half, they bounced back offensively and put up 37 points. Georgia managed just 10.
This was partly due to sixth-year forward Taylor Jones, who logged her seventh double-double of the season after scoring 17 points and putting up 16 rebounds. Most of those points came from the second and third quarters after Jones made adjustments to her game.
“I wanted to be tougher going into the second half, and just playing smarter and doing whatever I could to impact the game,” Jones said. “And so my shots were falling, I was able to get some rebounds, and it just ended up working out.”
Impacting the team not just in this game, but throughout the season senior guard Rori Harmon made Texas history, becoming the first player in program history to record 1200 points and 600 career assists. Harmon’s 10 points and three rebounds were enough to break the record.
On Thursday, the Longhorns will hit the road again and travel to Mississippi State where Schaefer spent a successful and meaningful eight years as head coach. Four of them were spent coaching his daughter Blair Schaefer who is now his assistant coach.
Schaefer didn’t shy away from describing the emotions that will be present and what the game is going to mean for both his daughter and him. Some might welcome them back, but others might not be so happy to see Schaefer again.
“ There’ll be some folks in the arena that are fond of me and really fond of Blair,” Schaefer said. “And then there’s going to be some in there that wouldn’t spit on my guts if they were on fire on the sidewalk. … But at the end of the day, I’m taking my team in there to try to go win a basketball game.”
