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No. 6 Texas women rebound from loss, rally past TCU 65-58

Jan 21, 2016 - 5:09 AM FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Imani Boyette rejected the idea of a Baylor hangover for No. 6 Texas, the same way she did TCU players who tried to drive on the 6-foot-10 center.

Boyette had 19 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, and the Longhorns bounced back from their first loss by overcoming a sluggish first half with a fourth-quarter run in a 65-58 victory against the Horned Frogs on Wednesday night.

Texas (17-1, 6-1 Big 12) was coming off an 80-67 loss to No. 4 Baylor, which is a half-game behind the Longhorns in the conference standings. But Boyette said that had nothing to do with 11 first-half turnovers and an 11-point deficit.

''After the Baylor game, they're a great team, and they beat us because they were a better team that day,'' said Boyette, who has a Big 12-best six double-doubles in seven league games. ''We can't worry about that for the rest of the season. Our whole season's in front of us.''

Texas improved to 37-2 against the Horned Frogs (11-7, 3-4). Both losses came in the Longhorns' previous two trips to Fort Worth.

Brooke McCarty had a pair of 3-pointers during a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter that put Texas ahead for the first time since the 6-minute mark of the first quarter. And the Longhorns cleaned up their game, with just five turnovers after halftime.

''Last year, we would have let one disappointing loss turn into two and two turn into three,'' Texas coach Karen Aston said. ''I thought we showed some maturity just from having a bad first half. That's another thing that last year, we just would have had trouble resetting even at halftime.''

Zahna Medley and AJ Alix scored 12 points apiece for TCU.

After McCarty started the decisive Texas run with a 3-pointer, Brianna Taylor made a free throw for the first Texas lead since the first quarter at 53-52. McCarty's other bucket from long range gave the Longhorns their biggest lead to that point at 58-54.

McCarty finished with 11 points, and Ariel Atkins had 13. Celina Rodrigo had eight assists.

The Horned Frogs had a chance to tie or go ahead in the final 2 minutes, but Medley's driving layup attempt became the last of Boyette's blocks. Atkins made two free throws after a breakaway to the other end for a 61-57 lead.

Boyette hit a turnaround jumper for a 63-57 lead with 38 seconds remaining.

''To be honest, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,'' said Boyette, who had her 10th double-double overall this season and finished one block shy of her season high. ''That's what we've been working on. Against Baylor, our help side was really bad.''

Destynee Hives-McCray had eight points and eight rebounds as TCU outrebounded one of the nation's best teams in rebounding margin 37-35. The Horned Frogs fell to 0-3 against ranked teams, including an 88-72 home loss to No. 3 Notre Dame in December.

''We take no moral victories in our program because the belief that we have, the effort that these women put forth in preparing is championship level,'' second-year TCU coach Raegan Pebley said.

TCU was still up by eight midway through the third quarter after a layup by Jada Butts on a pass from Medley before Texas finally got closer than four points.

The Longhorns were down one after three, missing a chance at the lead when McCarty's runner from 12 feet rimmed out in the final seconds.

CLOSING IN ON 1K

The Longhorns have 998 wins in school history. Four programs have 1,000: Tennessee (1,288), Louisiana Tech (1,067), James Madison (1,029) and Old Dominion (1,004).

TIP-INS

Texas: Taylor appeared to injure her left arm or wrist when she fell into Toree Thompson and was called for a foul as she went to the floor in the third quarter. Taylor was replaced before play resumed but soon returned. ... Boyette and Rodrigo had four steals apiece.

TCU: Medley entered the game as the active career scoring leader in the Big 12. She has 1,715 points. ... Caitlin Diaz fouled out with 5:50 remaining. She had four points and six rebounds. Butts also fouled out.

UP NEXT

Texas: Home against No. 19 Oklahoma on Saturday.

TCU: Home against West Virginia on Sunday.