Stormin' Norman: Texas women knock off Oklahoma, seize control of Big 12 title race

NORMAN, Okla. — The Texas Longhorns went to Oklahoma this weekend and seized control of their destiny Saturday.

Behind Shaylee Gonzales' 19 points and Shay Holle's third-quarter outburst, the No. 19 Longhorns broke free from the No. 13 Sooners in the second half of a 67-45 win at the Lloyd Noble Center, a 22-point win that broke their first-place tie atop the Big 12 standings with two games to play.

Texas (22-7, 13-3) will host Baylor on Monday and then travel to Kansas State next weekend. Oklahoma (22-5, 12-4) finishes at home against Kansas State on Wednesday and then at Oklahoma State next Saturday.

Texas hasn't won the Big 12 regular-season championship since 2004. Oklahoma was last crowned in 2009.

"We've got two monsters left," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. "I'm gonna let ❜em enjoy today. But when we get off the plane and get back to campus, we've got to put it in a sink and flush it because we've got to get ready for Baylor on Monday night."

Schaefer has often wondered if his players fully grasp the history associated with their program. When talking just this week about treating the Sooners like any other opponent, the head coach said that "I don't know how many of my kids really understand the history of Texas-OU, so that might be a good thing."

There is one notable exception among the Longhorns, though.

Holle grew up in Austin. Her father, Eric, played football for the Longhorns in the 1980s. When she committed to play for the Longhorns in 2019, she posted a childhood picture of herself wearing a Texas cheerleading outfit and a burnt-orange hat. Her Horns were up.

Back in 1981, Eric Holle graced the cover of Sports Illustrated after the Longhorns recorded a 34-14 win over the Sooners. When asked Saturday if she had seen the magazine that featured the photo of her dad teaming with Vance Bedford for a tackle, the junior guard replied that "it's actually in our house."

On Saturday, Holle got her own moment against UT's Red River rival.

Twenty-eight seconds into the second half, she knocked down a 3-pointer to extend the 27-23 lead that Texas had taken into halftime. At the 2:44 mark of the third quarter, she hit another 3-pointer. Less than 20 seconds later, she was again good from deep.

"I thought Rori (Harmon) just found me in really good spots," Holle said. "She got me the right shots at the right time, and it kind of just came together."

Holle finished the quarter and game with 11 points. That tied the third-best scoring total of her 87-game career. But since Texas was playing Oklahoma, there's a chance this game meant more than a 13-point effort against Rutgers or a 12-point game against Kansas State.

"I grew up a Longhorn fan, which equals hating OU. So obviously, you look forward to these games; they mean a lot," Holle said. "You try to explain to everyone else that's not necessarily from Texas how important this rivalry is and how much it means to our fans and everyone at Texas."

Oklahoma was unable to get any closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter as Gonzales, Harmon and DeYona Gaston combined for 15 points. Over the course of the afternoon, those three Longhorns scored 45 points. Taylor Jones added 10 points and five blocks.

Defensively, the Longhorns forced 22 turnovers. Oklahoma is No. 2 nationally among the 350 Division I teams in scoring offense at 86.7 points per game, but the Sooners scored their fewest points since the 2015-16 season.

"One of the interviewers on the court asked me, you held a team that usually scores pretty much 100 points a game — I know I'm being dramatic, but that's just what it looks like — to 45," Harmon said. "That's the definition of textbook defense, in my opinion, or even just Texas defense."

Gonzales scored three seconds into Saturday's showdown after UT controlled the opening tip. But after Texas and Oklahoma battled to a 17-17 tie in the first quarter, the two offenses stalled and sputtered. In the second quarter, Texas shot 5-for-12 from the field, and Oklahoma was 1-for-12. The two teams combined for 11 turnovers, two of which were shot clock violations called on back-to-back possessions.

Oklahoma was held to six points in the second quarter. That was only the third time this season that the Sooners failed to produce a double-digit total during a quarter. In Austin last month, OU also was held to six points in the third quarter of a 78-58 loss.

Oklahoma was limited to eight points in the fourth quarter.

"It feels (frustrating) when it's supposed to be a rivalry game and they've owned us," Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. "That's something that whatever we're doing, we've got to change it and be a lot better."

Oklahoma was led by Liz Scott's 13 points. Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson, who rank third and fourth in all-time scoring at Oklahoma, scored just eight and six points. The NCAA's all-time leader in 3-pointers, Robertson was just 2-for-7 on her deep attempts.

Notes: While recording her third double-double of the season, Gaston had 12 points and 11 rebounds. ... Harmon finished with eight assists and seven rebounds. ... Saturday's game was played in front of an announced crowd of 10,127.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas women beat Oklahoma, claim first place in basketball standings