Tag: joyner holmes

Two Longhorns make jump to the WNBA

Joyner Holmes and teammate Sug Sutton were selected in the 2020 WNBA Draft. Where did they land?

On Friday night the WNBA took center stage with the WNBA Draft. Two former Longhorns were looking to make the jump to the next level and continue their playing careers. In the first round of the draft, senior forward Joyner Holmes got the call she had been waiting her whole life for.

Holmes will now head to the pacific northwest and join the Seattle Storm. The Storm’s roster is quite loaded with talent including 16-year veteran Sue Bird. Holmes will join a forward group that also includes Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck who played their college ball at UConn. She will have quite the challenge to make the team once their season gets rolling.

Sug Sutton also was selected in the third round to the defending WNBA Champion Washington Mystics. Sutton joins former Longhorns standout Ariel Atkins, who will be going into her third year.

The WNBA season was set to start on May 14th but it remains to be seen when either of these two Longhorns will finally step on the court as professional athletes at the next level.

Celeste Taylor and Longhorns take care of Oklahoma

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team hosted the Oklahoma Sooners in their final regular season matchup. The final was 86-76.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball returned to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin to host their long-time rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners. Coming off a 10-point victory over the top 25 Texas Christian Horned Frogs. The trio of Celeste Taylor, Charli Collier and Joyner Holmes led the way in that game and did most of the damage against the Sooners.

The Sooners and Longhorns were all tied up after the first quarter before Texas would put some distance in the middle two quarters to head into the final quarter up 62-48 in front of the home crowd. Taylor was feeling it early on and it carried throughout the game when she nailed a three to get the game started for Texas.

Collier carried the offense in the first with 10 of her 14 points to open the game. She finished with yet another double-double in points and rebounds. Taylor and Collier combined for 41 points and 17 rebounds in this matchup. In her final game against Oklahoma, senior forward Joyner Holmes added 16 points, six rebounds and four steals.

After a Tatum Veitenheimer free throw made it 29-25 Oklahoma, it became the Taylor show heading into halftime. The freshmen showed why she was a participant in the McDonald’s All-American game with 10 points in the final six minutes of the quarter. She finished with a game-high 27 points, coming off her 22 point performance against TCU.

The Longhorns were outscored in the fourth quarter by four but the damage was done as they beat Oklahoma, 86-76. After sweeping the season series with OU, the Longhorns look to upset the second-ranked Baylor Bears on Thursday.

Texas goes on the road, beats No. 25 TCU

UT was in desperate need of a win against TCU Wednesday night. UT pulled off the upset against the 25th ranked team in the country, 77-67.

After losing three out of their last four games, Texas was in desperate need of a win on the road against TCU Wednesday night. Backed by double-doubles from three different players, the Longhorns pulled off the upset against the 25th ranked team in the country, 77-67.

Celeste Taylor led the team in scoring, recording 22 points on 8-14 shooting. She caught fire from behind the arc, leading the team with four made three-pointers on seven attempts. To go along with her scoring, Taylor grabbed 10 rebounds. Four of them offensive, the guard out of New York recorded her first double-double of the season.

The leading rebounder of the game was Charli Collier, recording 16 total boards. Dominating down low, she also blocked five shots, a season-high for her. From the field, she only shot 5-14 but was 5-7 from the free-throw line, finishing with 16 points. Ending with as many points as she did rebounds, Collier was the main contributor for the Longhorns.

The third and final player to record a double-double for the Longhorns was Joyner Holmes. She had 15 points while shooting 6-11 from inside the arc. Securing 12 rebounds, she split them evenly on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Holmes and Collier’s combined 12 offensive rebounds were more than the entire Horned Frog team combined.

Next for the Longhorns will be arch-rival Oklahoma on Saturday before traveling to Waco to face No. 2 Baylor. Currently sitting in third in the Big 12, Texas will be looking to end the season with some momentum going into the conference tournament.

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Cold Shooting, Turnovers result in 60-54 loss for the Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team got off to a hot start but cold shooting down the stretch lead to 60-54 loss.

Texas struggled to close out the game against the Kansas State Wildcats when it looked like the Longhorns might pull it off. The Wildcats were led by  Ayoka Lee who recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. She added three blocks as well. Peyton Williams struggled shooting but was huge on the boards with 13 rebounds and three steals. The KSU 8-0 run to close out the game helped them knock off Texas 60-54.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team got off to a hot start in the first quarter against the Kansas State Wildcats. Of their 19 first quarter points, sophomore forward Charli Collier led the way with 11 in the opening frame. Fifth-year senior Lashann Higgs came off the bench with four points to keep the game tied as the first came to a close.

In the second quarter, the Wildcats tried to take control of the game. After a field goal by Sug Sutton with 8:07 left in the second quarter, the Longhorns went on a four-plus minute scoring drought. Kansas State would take advantage. It wouldn’t be until Joanne Allen-Taylor got out in transition for a layup with 3:35 left where Texas would score. Collier would only score once in the second on a second-chance after a rebound to cut the KSU lead to two, 31-29. Neither team would score over the final 2:17 of the second quarter.

First Half Leaders (Texas)

  • Charli Collier 13 points, three rebounds, one steal
  • Joyner Holmes six points, four rebounds

Texas shot just one for nine from behind the arc and 35.1% from the field.

The Longhorns came out firing in the third quarter with a quick 6-0 run to take a four point lead. Jada Underwood got it started with a quick steal and found Sutton to tie it up. Sutton and Celeste Taylor added four more before the Wildcats would answer. A 18-14 quarter gave Texas a two-point lead into the final quarter.

A sloppy fourth quarter for the Longhorns as they had trouble hitting the shot going down the stretch. Holmes gave Texas a two-point lead with 3:57 left in the game but that would be their last make of the game. The turnovers and cold shooting for the Longhorns in the closing minutes doomed their bid to win.

Final Stats

  • Collier- 17 points, six rebounds
  • Holmes- 14 points, eight rebounds
  • Higgs- 11 points, four rebounds, two steals

Texas Longhorns Women’s Basketball Look For Redemption

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team looks for redemption against the Iowa State Cyclones.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team is looking to rebound tonight against Iowa State after a narrow defeat at the hands of Texas Christian. The lady frogs escaped with a 65-63 victory. During that game TCU came out strong in the third quarter outscoring Texas 23-13 and took a five-point lead into the final quarter.

The loss was even more disappointing coming off the heels of the Longhorns upset win over then number one ranked Stanford. Joyner Holmes tried to help carry the team in which Charli Collier wasn’t as effective as she has been in recent games with just five points and seven rebounds. In that game, Texas shot just 56.3 percent from the line on 16 attempts. That is the difference between winning and losing.

Last season Iowa State and Texas split their season series at a game a piece, each winning on the road. They met again in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament where the Longhorns fell to the Cyclones 75-69. Texas women’s basketball team will be looking for a bit of retribution against Iowa State in this game.

The Cyclones were able to win their Big 12 opener against Texas Tech 96-66. Texas will be looking to slow down that offense from another huge outing. Iowa State has eclipsed 80 points in five of their 12 games this year. Collier will be looking to get back to her double-double ways against Iowa State tonight in Ames, Iowa.