Underwood, McCarty, No. 2 Texas top Texas-San Antonio 120-70
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - With nine former high school all-Americans, No. 2 Texas was simply too much for Texas-San Antonio.
Jada Underwood had career highs of 19 points and nine rebounds, Brooke McCarty scored 18 points and the Longhorns beat the Roadrunners 120-70 Friday night.
"I come into practice every day with the mindset that I'm playing with the best, so just compete with them," said Underwood, one of four Texas players who was not an All-American.
Underwood played 10 minutes a game as a freshman and averages 17 this season.
Longhorns coach Karen Aston said Underwood - who is averaging 17 minutes, up from 10 per game last season as a freshman - has more talent than she knows.
"She has the tools," Aston said. "It's just a matter of what's going on between those ears, and does she really believe she has the tools."
McCarty, a senior guard and Big 12 player of the year last season, shot 7 for 11 from the field, including 3 for 4 on 3-pointers, for Texas (3-0). Ariel Atkins and Chasity Patterson added 13 points each, combining to hit 11 of 14 shots.
"They can beat you in so many ways," UTSA coach Kristen Holt said.
Crystal Chidomere led the Roadrunners (1-3) with 19 points. Marie Benson had 15 points and seven rebounds.
Texas guard Lashann Higgs left the game early in the third quarter after she was knocked to the ground by a UTSA player setting a screen, hitting her head on the court. After getting examined by medical personnel, Higgs was cleared to return but watched the rest of the game from the Longhorns' bench.
Chidomere scored 26 points in her season debut against Texas-Arlington on Wednesday after missing UTSA's first two games for personal reasons. She had only four points by early in the third quarter against Texas while guarded primarily by Higgs, a junior angling to become the team's defensive stopper. After Higgs left the game, Chidomere produced six quick points and kept scoring.
"She's fantastic," Holt said of her senior guard.
BIG PICTURE
UTSA: The Roadrunners are 0-2 against teams from the Power 5 conferences, having lost at Arizona State by 32 points. The good news for them is that they don't have any more games left against that level of competition. Holt does not regret playing these games and was encouraged by a second half in which UTSA scored 43 points.
"I don't think our players were afraid," Holt said." We got hit in the mouth right away, but I thought we came out in the second half and showed some improvement. We want to be gritty. We showed some grit today."
Texas: The Longhorns asserted themselves quickly in games while compiling a 3-0 record against inferior opponents. They scored 33 points in the first quarter in a 95-59 opening day victory against Stetson, the most Texas has scored in a quarter since the NCAA went from playing two halves to four quarters before the 2015-16 season. The Longhorns followed up with 32 in the first quarter of a 100-34 win against McNeese, and 30 in the first quarter against UTSA.
NOT TOTALLY PLEASED
Aston is impressed by her team this season, but not so much with its second-half defense against UTSA.
"I'm gonna nitpick quite a bit about our defense or lack of, in the second half," Aston said. "But three games in a span of six days, it's tough."
UP NEXT
UTSA: Hosts Northern Illinois next Friday and North Dakota on Nov. 25 at the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic.
Texas: Plays LSU next Friday and Washington on Nov. 25 at Las Vegas in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.