Longhorns Beat Oklahoma State in Big 12 Women's Opener

Texas was without three players, but the Longhorns' veterans helped them pull away from the Cowgirls

The Texas Longhorns ended up winning their Big 12 women’s conference opener on Sunday, defeating Oklahoma State, 62-51, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

No. 12 Texas had not played since its victory over Princeton on Dec. 22. The Longhorns (10-1, 1-0 in Big 12) was supposed to play Alcorn State on Dec. 29, but that game was canceled due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols within the Texas program.

Joanne Allen-Taylor and Audrey Warren led the Longhorns with 14 points each, while Rori Harmon added 11 points in a bench role.

Texas started slowly against Oklahoma State (5-5, 0-1), which built a first-quarter lead around the offense of guard Lauren Fields, who led the Cowgirls with 17 points. Texas was able to cut OSU’s lead to one point, 16-15, by the end of the first quarter. That was in large part to Harmon’s buzzer-beater for Texas.

Well, that's one way to end a quarter @roriiiharmonnn 🤘🚨#TexasFight | #SCtop10 | @SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/EznrZquLXP

— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) January 2, 2022

From there, Texas gradually wore down the Cowgirls, who had not played since Dec. 17 due to COVID-19 issues within their program. Texas led 34-30 at halftime and never trailed. The Longhorns held Oklahoma State to 30 percent shooting, forced 18 turnovers, and scored 36 points in the paint.

While Texas forward Lauren Ebo only scored six points for Texas, she had 10 rebounds, while Warren added nine rebounds.

Guard Micah Dennis was the only other Oklahoma State player that scored in double figures, finishing with 10 points.

Per the Austin American-Statesman’s Danny Davis, forward DeYona Gaston, guard Kobe King-Hawea and center Femme Masudi were not available for Sunday’s game. Gaston was the only Longhorn that had started recently.

Texas went with Ebo, Allen-Taylor, Warren, Aliyah Matharu, and freshman Kyndall Hunter in the starting lineup.

Aaliyah Moore, Texas’ highly-touted freshman forward, is still out due to injury.

Texas hosts Texas Tech at 7 p.m. on Jan. 5.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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