No. 15/16 Women’s Basketball Preview: Iowa State

No. 15/16 Texas (25-8, 14-4 Big 12) vs. RV/No. 25 Iowa State (21-9, 11-7 Big 12)

Game 34

Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Final

Saturday, March 12, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. in the city center

Kansas City, Mo. Municipal Auditorium

GameDay quick facts

TELEVISION: The game will be televised nationally on the ESPN2/ESPN+ channel. Brenda VanLengen (pxp) and Holly Warlick (analyst) and Kris Budden (reporter) will call the game.

RADIO: The game will be broadcast on 105.3 FM in Austin. Craig Way (pxp) and Kathy Harston (analyst) call for action. The broadcast will be broadcast liveTexasSports.Com.

SERIES: Texas leads the all-time series 26-22. The teams have played only once in the Big 12 Championship final, in 2000, when ISU won 75-65.

Considerable

BIG 12 CHAMPION: Texas is making its eighth title appearance and is seeking its third title. Texas won the Big 12 championship last season by beating Baylor in the final game.

BIG 12 CHAMPION: The Longhorns finished 14-4 in conference play and earned a share of the conference title, their first regular season title since 2003-04.

BIG 12 AWARDS: Texas head coach Vic Schaefer The league’s coaches chose him as the Big 12 Coach of the Year. Harmon Road earned Defensive Player of the Year and Shaylee Gonzales was chosen as Rookie of the Year. Landing All-Big 12 First Team was Harmon Road and DeYona Gaston. Gonzales earned a spot on the second team, Harmon earned a spot on the defensive team and Amina Muhammad was selected to the All-Freshman Team.

ELITE COMPANY: Harmon Road and Iowa guard Caitlin Clark are the only two players in NCAA DI women’s basketball to average at least 11.6 points per game, seven assists and five rebounds per game. In the quarterfinal win over Oklahoma State, Harmon became the first player in Big 12 Championship history to record a game with 10+ points, 10+ assists and 7+ rebounds. Harmon also reached 200 assists during the season, becoming the seventh player in program history to reach the milestone and the first since Edwina Brown in 1999-00.

THE DEFENSE EXECUTES:

Texas is 21-0 on the season when the opponent is held to 59 points or less. Texas is the only team in the nation to go undefeated in 20 games while holding opponents to less than 60 points. 23 times this season Texas has held an opponent to single digits in a quarter. The Longhorns held the Oklahoma offense to 45 points, averaging 86.7 points. Against Kansas State in the quarterfinals, Texas gave up 42 points, the fewest to an opponent in their Big 12 Tournament history. Texas ranks 10th^th6th in the NCAA in forced turnovers per game and 6th in the NCAA in blocked shots per game. Texas has blocked 186 shots this season, which is currently tied for fourth on their all-time single-season blocks list. The program record for blocks in a season is 199 in the 2009-10 season.

FIGHT ADVERSITY: The Longhorns have faced adversity as several players have suffered injuries this season. This season, the Longhorns have had 49 missed games by rotation players.

RORI HARMON: Sophomore All-American Harmon Road made history Jan. 4 in the Longhorns’ win over TCU, becoming the fourth player in program history to record a triple-double. Harmon scored 17 points and added 11 assists and 10 rebounds. After missing the first five games of the season due to injury, the Longhorns are 22-5 with Harmon this season. In Big 12 play, Harmon averages 13.0, 7.7, 5.8 and 2.1. Harmon leads the Big 12 in assists per game. Harmon is No. 4 on UT’s all-time assists list with 206. Harmon was named Naismith Trophy Player of the Week to the Midseason Team. Harmon leads the team in turnovers (130) and fouls committed (29). Harmon has played 40 minutes in nine conference games for the Longhorns.

GASTON GOES BIG:

DeYona Gaston had his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Baylor. Gaston scored 15 of his 19 points against Oklahoma in the first half. Gaston scored a career-high 24 points in Texas’ win at Kanas. Against TCU, Gaston scored 16 points and had a career-high four assists. Gaston is one of the most improved players in terms of scoring in the Big 12. From 5.3 points last year to 12.5 points this season, the fourth-highest improvement in the conference. Gaston also has the seventh-highest rebounding margin in the conference. Gaston ranks second in the Big 12 in field goal percentage, shooting 53.1 percent from the field. Gaston posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the Longhorns’ win at Oklahoma.

ON THE GLASS: The Longhorns are 20-5 this season when outscoring their opponents. Texas has been effective on the offensive glass as it leads the Big 12 and ranks 13th^thIn the NCAA in the number of offensive rebounds 15.3. Texas has won the offensive glass in 23 games this season. Against West Virginia, the Longhorns grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and gave up just four offensive boards to the Mountaineers.

20 WINS: The Longhorns posted 20^thseason win against TCU. To be the head coach Vic Schaeferhe has now won at least 20 games as a head coach in 10 consecutive seasons.

GONZALES LEAVING: In his first season in Austin Shaylee Gonzales has made an impression. Gonzales has scored in double figures in 22 games this season. In Texas’ win, Texas Tech Gonzales scored 25 points and went a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. Against TCU, Gonzales not only scored 16 points, but added seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Gonzales led Texas with 17 points in a semifinal win over Oklahoma State and now has 1,975 career points.

JONES INTERNAL STRENGTH: Taylor Jones has blocked three or more shots in nine games this season and has blocked five shots in three games. Jones blocked five shots in Texas’ win at Oklahoma. Jones had eight points and 11 rebounds in the quarterfinals against Kansas State.