While the UT campus had the day off in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Texas women’s basketball went to work and beat Maryland 89-51 in the inaugural Coretta Scott King Classic in Newark, New Jersey.
The event was founded in collaboration with The King Center to “celebrate Mrs. King’s legacy and celebrate female empowerment in sports,” according to the Prudential Center’s website. The doubleheader also featured a UCLA versus Baylor game before Texas and Maryland took the court.
No. 7 Texas entered this Top 10 matchup after taking down Auburn on Thursday and was all over No. 8 Maryland from the beginning. The Longhorns played with confidence, scoring in the paint, on the three-point line and forcing 27 turnovers.
By the third quarter, the Longhorns had a 30-point lead over the Terrapins and were dancing on the sidelines as player after player found the net.
But no Longhorn played as dominantly on the court as sophomore forward Madison Booker, who, despite fouling out in the third quarter, logged 28 points and had more points than the entire Maryland team at multiple points in the game. Booker has struggled with consistency in her shooting recently but had no trouble sinking her texas-hosts-no-2-auburn-on-tuesday-as-sec-gauntlet-continues/” title=”Texas hosts No. 2 Auburn on Tuesday as SEC gauntlet continues”>mid-range jumper over and over again against the Terrapins.
One of Maryland’s top scorers, senior guard Shyanne Sellers, left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and did not return. Her absence hurt the already struggling Terrapins who never regained their footing after she left.
Three other Longhorn players scored in the double digits, including the Texas women’s basketball program’s player with the most wins in the NCAA era, fifth-year guard Shay Holle. Holle put up 12 points and went 2-5 on three-pointers.
Junior center Kyla Oldacre and senior forward Taylor Jones logged 15 and 13 points, respectively. Both players were active under the net with Oldacre putting up six rebounds while Jones managed nine.
The Longhorns will look to add to their winning record as they head home on Thursday to face Tennessee at the Moody Center at 8 p.m.
