Not their first choice, but Longhorns’ zone defense worked to perfection against Baylor

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A hallmark of great teams is the ability to adapt and adjust to whatever situation they are presented with. Whether it’s tweaking an offensive play, or in the case of the Texas Longhorns, changing a style of defense, the only thing that stays the same is change.

Enter, the zone defense.

Madison Booker, Aaliyah Moore power No. 12 Texas women past No. 13 Baylor 67-55

The Longhorns, No. 12 in the latest Associated Press women’s basketball poll, stymied a Baylor offense Thursday that lit them up for 85 points Dec. 30 at Moody Center. Texas avenged the earlier loss with a 67-55 win at the brand-new Foster Pavilion in Waco on the heels of a defense that head coach Vic Schaefer doesn’t particularly care for. He realizes the benefits of it, however, and with his team battling injuries and needing to save their legs whenever they can, he’s been turning to it more often.

“I haven’t typically spent a lot of time on zone defense,” he said. “Here lately, in the last week, we worked on it Saturday in shootaround before we played Cincinnati, and before that, I couldn’t tell you the last practice we worked on it. I know we’ve worked on it, I just can’t tell you which practice it was and what month it was.”

Schaefer has always been a man-to-man defense stalwart. However, showing a little versatility in how a team can effectively defend is critical to success, especially when things get tight late in the season. He went to the zone defense against the Bears and held their potent offense to its lowest total of the season. Baylor’s shooting percentages were drastically lower Thursday night than they were Dec. 30 when the Bears beat Texas at home, and part of that was how the Longhorns adjusted defensively. Baylor shot 56.7% when they beat Texas and five players scored in double figures, and when Texas beat Baylor, the Bears shot 35.1% with one player in double figures.

What Schaefer doesn’t want, he said, is for his team to think that zone defense is a fallback option if they’re getting beat in man-to-man. He’s using zone defense strategically, “playing the matchup,” as he calls it, but also to help with fatigue. Texas forced 20 turnovers using it against Baylor.

MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters

“I don’t want them to think, ‘Well Coach, man isn’t working, so let’s play zone.’ No,” he said. “The answer sometimes is you have to play harder, play better or play to the scout. Certain teams are going to have a bunch of players who can shoot it and you can’t rely on them going 7-for-30 like Baylor did.”

He also prefers man defense for rebounding purposes because each player is assigned to someone to box out. In a zone, opponents can get lost in the shuffle and sneak through for offensive rebounds.

Texas (20-3, 7-3 Big 12) faces No. 2 Kansas State (20-2, 9-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Moody Center. The Wildcats will be without 6-foot-6 center Ayoka Lee who is recovering from ankle surgery, but they’re still rolling along and are one of the best teams in the country. Texas lost 61-58 on Jan. 13 in Manhattan.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.