Despite thin bench, No. 10 Texas pushes past Cincinnati 67-50

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A shorthanded Texas Longhorns women’s basketball squad still got the job done Saturday with a 67-50 win over Cincinnati at Moody Center.

The No. 10 Longhorns were without forward DeYona Gaston for the fourth consecutive game and freshman point guard Madison Booker sat out with a hamstring injury, so head coach Vic Schaefer played seven players with the starters logging 30 or more minutes each.

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“Our kids were so special today,” Schaefer said after the game. “The good Lord has put some challenges in front of us, and our kids just played their hearts out.”

Cincinnati did Texas a favor by committing 25 fouls and sending the Longhorns to the free throw line 29 times. Texas made 23 foul shots to the Bearcats’ nine to create the separation. Texas made just one more field goal than Cincinnati did, shooting 20 for 54.

Schaefer wanted the game to be at a relatively slow pace because of his thin roster. Texas had 64 possessions while Cincinnati had 60. For comparison, in the Longhorns’ 91-87 loss to Oklahoma, Texas had 75 possessions. The team also didn’t score any fastbreak points against the Bearcats, and Schaefer said that “probably was by design.”

“We needed to have the score in the low 50s or 60s today,” he said. “We functioned at a high level and executed something that we haven’t worked on a lot.”

Aaliyah Moore scored 16 points on 4 of 14 shooting with an 8-for-11 performance from the foul line. Taylor Jones stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots while Shaylee Gonzales played all 40 minutes and scored 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting with six rebounds.

“She really managed our team today,” Schaefer said of Gonzales who stepped in to play point guard with Booker out. “She put the team on her back and led us.”

Texas outrebounded the Bearcats 46-32 and had 15 second-chance points from 10 offensive rebounds.

Schaefer said he “hopes” Booker’s injury is day-to-day, but he qualified it by saying he’s “going to be real careful with her,” moving forward. As far as Gaston goes, Schaefer said he thought she’d give it a try today, but her injured foot “didn’t respond well” after Thursday’s practice.

Texas (19-3, 6-3 Big 12) heads to Waco on Thursday to take on No. 13 Baylor. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. and will air on ESPN.

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