AUSTIN, Texas — Kelsey Lang and Tasia Foman each scored 12 points and third-ranked Texas beat Northwestern State 74-34 on Sunday to improve to 8-0.
Nneka Enemkpali added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Texas. The senior became the 37th Longhorns player to reach 1,000 career points.
Texas played without Ariel Atkins, the talented freshman guard who injured her right ankle last week when she stepped on a teammate's foot in practice. The 5-foot-11 Atkins started five of the Longhorns' first seven games, averaging 10.6 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Beatrice Attura led Northwestern State (4-4) with 12 points.
Junior Brady Sanders started in place of Atkins for the third time this season and had eight points. Sanders had two 3-pointer and three assists in the first 7 minutes.
Northwestern State was ineffective from the beginning, missing its first six shots, committing two turnovers, and falling behind 16-0 before finally scoring nearly 5 minutes into the game.
Though Enemkpali passed a milestone for scoring, her biggest value to the Longhorns might be the example she sets while leading the team in rebounding. Though undersized for a power forward at 6-1, she averages 8.6 a game.
"We all can see that Nneka is just a phenomenal rebounder," coach Karen Aston said. "She has not only a nose for the ball but a desire to go get the ball. I think it becomes contagious for those other players to see how hard she works on the boards."
TIP-INS
Texas: The Longhorns have had a outrebounding edge in every game this season, beating Northwestern State on the boards 38-26. Tennessee, the only team that came close, finished one rebound short of Texas. No other opponent has been closer than minus-7.
Northwestern State: The Lady Demons began the day ranked 241st nationally in field-goal shooting accuracy at 37.9 percent (there are 343 Division I teams). They did nothing to elevate themselves, shooting 32.5 percent against Texas.
UP NEXT
Texas: Hosts McNeese State on Wednesday night.
Northwestern State: Hosts Arkansas-Monticello on Wednesday night.
