UT Women’s Hoops continues SEC gauntlet with LSU battle
AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team has one of their biggest challenges of the season coming up this Sunday when they face No. 5 LSU at the Moody Center.
This game will wrap up a four-game stretch for Texas that included three top ten matches (South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU) and another ranked matchup in Vanderbilt. But despite the tough schedule, the Longhorns have amassed a 3-0 record so far and will hope to get a clean sweep against the 25-1 Tigers.
But taking down LSU will prove to be difficult with the high-powered offense the Tigers boast. Junior guard Flau’Jae Johnson (19.6 ppg), senior guard Aneesah Morrow (18.2 ppg), and sophomore guard Mikaylah Williams (17.0 ppg) make-up the only trio in women’s college basketball to average 17 points per game or more on the same team.
“It’s really hard to think about one without thinking about the other one, and then the other one,” said Texas Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer.
But LSU’s recent 82-77 win against the No. 19 Tennessee Volunteers had junior guard Kailyn Gilbert lead the Tigers’ scoring with 23 points, showing just how potent and deep this LSU offense can be.
In fact, the Tigers have averaged 87.4 points per game this season, which ranks second in the SEC, only behind Tennessee.
Schaefer and the Longhorns have always been up for a challenge, however. Their recent win this Thursday was on the road against the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats, beating them convincingly 67-49 and handing Kentucky their first home loss of the season.
It was a full team effort, especially on the defensive side. The Wildcats had averaged 78.1 points per game going into Thursday’s match.
So going into Sunday, Schaefer understands that defense will be just as important, especially against a scorer like Flau’Jae Johnson, a player he recruited and has high praise for.
“That kid has really improved overall,” Schaefer said, “Just plays with relentless effort. She’s really gotten better.”
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Longhorn senior guard Rori Harmon matched up against Johnson. Harmon was assigned to Kentucky’s leading scorer Georgia Amoore (19.0 ppg), and held her to 5-16 shooting from the field, and only 14 points.
“Defensively she looks really good to me,” Schaefer said. “Hard to shake Rori Harmon.”
The Longhorns offense is going to need a big performance from their leading scorer Madison Booker to complement the defense that Harmon provides as well.
Against Kentucky, Booker scored 19 points on 9-18 shooting and has averaged 19.7 points per game in the last three games. Junior forward Kyla Oldacre has also been on a hot steak as of late. After scoring a conference-high 13 points against South Carolina last Sunday, Oldacre followed up that game with a new conference high, scoring 19 against Kentucky.
The LSU-Texas game this Sunday will also have major implications on the SEC standings. Currently, Texas holds an 11-1 conference record, tying them for first with South Carolina, while LSU sits at 10-1. With South Carolina playing an out-of-conference game against UCONN on Sunday, a win for the Longhorns would put them in sole possession of first place in the SEC for now.
And Schaefer has all the confidence in the world for his team.
“Our kids are tough, I’m not worried about them,” Schaefer said. “They have proven to me over the course of the season, they are tough, and they are going to be ready.”
The top five matchup at the Moody Center will start at 2 p.m. CT.
