2022–23 Texas Longhorns women's basketball team explained

Mode:	Women's Basketball
Year:	2022–23
Prev Year:	2021–22
Next Year:	2023–24
Team:	Texas Longhorns
Conference:	Big 12 Conference
Short Conf:	Big 12
Aprank:	15
Coachrank:	19
Record:	26–10
Conf Record:	14–4
Hc Year:	3rd
Assoc Coach:	Elena Lovato
Ahc Year:	1st
Asst Coach2:	Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton
Ac2 Year:	1st
Asst Coach3:	Blair Schaefer
Ac3 Year:	3rd
Champion:	Big 12 regular season co-champions
Tourney Result:	Round of 32

The 2022–23 Texas Longhorns women's basketball team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team was coached by Vic Schaefer entering his third season at Texas. The Longhorns are members of the Big 12 Conference and played their home games at the new Moody Center.

This was the Longhorns' first season at the newly constructed Moody Center.^[1] Previously, Texas played at the Frank Erwin Center. This was the first time the Longhorns have a new arena since 1977 when Texas moved from the Gregory Gymnasium to the Frank Erwin Center.^[2]

Previous season

Regular season

Coming into the season, Texas had a lot of momentum going into the 2021–22 season after their Elite 8 appearance in the NCAA tournament the previous season.^[3] However, Texas lost star player Charli Collier to the WNBA draft, as she was the first overall pick by the Dallas Wings.^[4] With the addition of 2 5-star athletes in Rori Harmon and Aaliyah Moore and 2 4-star athletes in Latasha Lattimore and Kyndall Hunter, the momentum was still high.^[5] Texas finished the 2021-22 regular season 23–6, 13–5 in Big 12 play.^[6] The Longhorns finished 3rd in the Big 12 behind Iowa State and Baylor.^[7] 5-star recruit Rori Harmon emerged as a top freshman as she earned many accolades such as 4-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week, All-Big 12 Second Team, Big 12 All-Defensive Team, Big 12 All-Freshman Team, Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and Big 12 tournament Most Outstanding Player.^{[8] [9]} Harmon also was the first freshman in Texas women’s basketball history to earn All-American Honors. The combination of younger talent with freshmen Rori Harmon and Aaliyah Moore, plus sophomore DeYona Gaston, with the older talent of seniors Joanne Allen-Taylor, Lauren Ebo, Audrey Warren, and junior three point leader Aliyah Matharu, Texas had their most success since the 2017-18 season where the Longhorns went 24–5 during the regular season.^{[10] [11]}

Big 12 tournament

Texas earned a 3-seed in the 2022 Big 12 Conference women's basketball tournament where they would square off against 6-seed Kansas State. Texas would go on to defeat Kansas State 72–65 to advance to the second round.^[12] In the second round, the Longhorns faced off against Iowa State. Coming into the game, Texas had swept the Cyclones during the regular season.^{[13] [14]} Texas would go on to win 82–73 in overtime behind Rori Harmon’s 30-point career high performance, advancing them to the championship game against Baylor.^[15] Coming into the game, Texas was riding a 13 game losing streak to Baylor, having not defeated the Bears since the 2016-17 season.^[16] The Longhorns would go on to snap the losing streak defeating Baylor 67–58 in the championship game.^[17] *denotes overtime

NCAA tournament

Texas entered the NCAA tournament as a 2-seed where they faced off against 15-seed Fairfield. The Longhorns would go on to defeat the Stags 70–52, advancing Texas to the round of 32.^[18] In the round of 32, Texas played against 7-seed Utah. Texas defeated the Utes 78–56 sending them to the sweet 16 to match up with Ohio State.^[19] Against the Buckeyes, Texas won 66–63 advance Texas to their second consecutive elite 8.^[20] In the elite 8, the Longhorns faced Stanford, who they beat earlier in the regular season. However, Stanford prevailed against Texas, winning the game 59–50.^[21]

Spokane Regional final

Offseason

Returning players

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown
	3	G	5’6”	Sophomore
	5	F	6'2"	Junior	Pearland, TX
	10	G	6’0”	Junior	Austin, TX
	22	G	5’7”	Sophomore	Houston, TX
	23	F	6’1”	Sophomore	Moore, OK
	34	C	6’5”	Junior	Goma
	40	G	5’7”	Senior	Mansfield, TX

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
	11	G	5'8"	Senior		Graduated
Ashley Chevalier	25	G	5’7”	Sophomore		Transferred to Texas Tech
	1	F/C	6’4”	Senior		Transferred to Notre Dame
	31	G/F	5'9"	Senior		Transferred to Georgia
Latasha Lattimore	35	F/C	6’4”	Freshman		Transferred to Miami
Kobe King-Hawea	4	G/F	5’11”	Junior		Transferred to JMU

Outgoing transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	New Team	Source
	G	5'7"	Senior			^[22]
Ashley Chevalier	G	5’7”	Sophomore			^[23]
Audrey Warren	G/F	5'9"	Senior			^[24]
Lauren Ebo	F/C	6’4”	Senior			^[25]
Latasha Lattimore	F/C	6’4”	Freshman			^[26]
Kobe King-Hawea	G/F	5’11”	Junior			^[27]

Coaching staff departures

Name	Position	New Team	New Position	Source
Dionnah Jackson-Durrett	Associate head coach	Kansas City	Head coach	^[28]
April Phillips	Assistant coach	San Jose State	Head coach	^[29]
Calamity McEntire	Assistant coach	Illinois	Associate head coach	^[30]
Jazzmun Holmes	Coordinator of player development	Kansas City	Director of basketball operations	^[31]

Acquisitions

Incoming transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous Team	Source
Sonya Morris	G	5’10”				^[32]
Taylor Jones	F	6’4”				^[33]
Khadija Faye	C	6’4”				^[34]
	G	5’10”				^[35]

2022 recruiting class

|-| colspan="7" style="padding-left:10px;" | Overall recruiting rankings:|-| colspan="7" style="font-size:85%; background:#F5F5F5;" |

• Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
• In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.
• Web site: 2022 Player Commits . ESPN.com . 23 January 2022 .

|}

2023 recruiting class

|-| colspan="7" style="padding-left:10px;" | Overall recruiting rankings:|-| colspan="7" style="font-size:85%; background:#F5F5F5;" |

• Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
• In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.
• Web site: 2023 Player Commits . ESPN.com . 22 March 2022 .

|}

Coaching staff additions

Name	Position	Previous Team	Previous Position	Source
Elena Lovato	Associate head coach	Texas	Assistant coach	^[36]
Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton	Assistant coach/recruiting coordinator	Purdue	Assistant coach	^[37]
Sydney Carter	Director of player development	Texas A&M|Player development/assistant recruiting coordinator	^[38]

Preseason

Big 12 Media Poll

Big 12 media poll
1	Iowa State	75 (4)
2	Texas	74 (4)
3	Oklahoma	65 (1)
4	Baylor	62 (1)
5	Kansas	49
6	Kansas State	37
7	Texas Tech	29
8	West Virginia	26
9	Oklahoma State	23
10	TCU	10

Source:^[39]

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Nancy Lieberman Award	Rori Harmon	PG	Sophomore	^[40]
Ann Meyers Drysdale Award	Sonya Morris	G	Graduate Student	^[41]
Katrina McClain Award	Aaliyah Moore	F	Sophomore	^[42]
Cheryl Miller Award	Shay Holle	F	Junior	^[43]
Lisa Leslie Award	Taylor Jones	F	Junior	^[44]
Wade Trophy	Rori Harmon	PG	Sophomore	^[45]

Preseason All-Big 12 teams

Position	Player	Class
First Team
G	Rori Harmon	Sophomore
F	Aaliyah Moore	Sophomore
Honorable Mention
G	Shaylee Gonzales	Graduate Student
G	Sonya Morris	Graduate Student
F	Taylor Jones	Junior

Source:^[46]

Roster

Support staff

2022-23 Texas Longhorns support staff
Sydney Carter – Director of player development Zack Zillner – Sports Performance Coach Kristin Grant – Director of Video and Recruiting Digital Services Christy Smith – Director of operations Dennis Colwell – Administrative Associate Ryan Yablonsky – Graduate assistant

Roster outlook

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition |-!colspan=9 style=|Non-Conference Regular Season |-!colspan=12 style=| Big 12 Regular Season|-!colspan=9 style=|Big 12 Tournament (2–1)|-!colspan=12 style=|NCAA TournamentSource:Schedule

Postseason

Big 12 tournament

Team and individual statistics

Individual player statistics (Final)^[47]

			Minutes		Scoring		Total FGs			3-point FGs			Free-Throws			Rebounds
Player	GP	GS	Tot	Avg	Pts	Avg	FG	FGA	Pct	3FG	3FA	Pct	FT	FTA	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Avg	A	PF	TO	Stl	Blk
style=white-space:nowrap	Shaylee Gonzales	36	36	1196	33.2	458	12.7	155	372	41.7%	54	154	35.1%	94	109	86.2%	55	99	154	4.3	96	86	84	56	17
style=white-space:nowrap	DeYona Gaston	36	32	915	25.4	437	12.1	183	355	51.5%	0	1	0.0%	71	103	68.9%	84	123	207	5.8	39	94	56	35	40
style=white-space:nowrap	Sonya Morris	26	24	687	26.4	296	11.4	118	284	41.5%	47	121	38.8%	13	20	65.0%	14	55	69	2.7	49	41	48	33	10
style=white-space:nowrap	Rori Harmon	31	31	1114	35.9	347	11.2	140	380	36.8%	8	51	15.7%	59	105	56.2%	34	129	163	5.3	228	55	99	72	8
style=white-space:nowrap	Aaliyah Moore	9	9	184	20.4	101	11.2	34	61	55.7%	0	1	0.0%	33	46	71.7%	16	27	43	4.8	16	23	27	4	3
style=white-space:nowrap	Taylor Jones	27	4	536	19.9	257	9.5	102	180	56.7%	0	0	0.0%	53	79	67.1%	57	97	154	5.7	4	66	32	11	62
style=white-space:nowrap	Khadija Faye	36	27	538	14.9	213	5.9	76	140	54.3%	0	0	0.0%	61	88	69.3%	88	96	184	5.1	17	97	39	37	34
style=white-space:nowrap	Shay Holle	36	14	911	25.3	214	5.9	80	195	41.0%	35	90	38.9%	19	31	61.3%	22	48	70	1.9	57	75	54	35	19
style=white-space:nowrap	Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda	31	3	378	12.2	135	4.4	44	131	33.6%	3	17	17.6%	44	63	69.8%	36	33	69	2.2	18	52	29	15	4
style=white-space:nowrap	Amina Muhammad	36	0	671	18.6	142	3.9	60	124	48.4%	0	0	0.0%	22	50	44.0%	74	103	177	4.9	34	88	53	26	14
style=white-space:nowrap	Anissa Gutierrez	10	0	20	2.0	4	0.4	1	6	16.7%	0	0	0.0%	2	2	100.0%	0	0	0	0.0	1	1	3	1	0
style=white-space:nowrap	Sarah Graves	1	0	1	1.0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	36	–	7200	200.0	2623	72.9	1002	2247	44.6%	147	435	33.8%	472	698	67.6%	546	880	1426	39.6	559	680	548	326	214
Opponents	36	–	7200	200.0	2068	57.4	707	1879	37.6%	175	526	33.3%	479	692	69.2%	381	786	1167	32.4	356	715	718	281	107

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	Avg	Average per game
FG	Field-goals made	FGA	Field-goal attempts	Off	Offensive rebounds
Def	Defensive rebounds	A	Assists	TO	Turnovers
Blk		Stl	Steals	High	Team high

Awards and honors

Weekly honors!style=

Honors	style= width="20%"	Player	style=	Position	style=	Date Awarded	style=	Ref.
Big 12 Freshman of the Week	DeYona Gaston	F	December 12, 2022	^[48]
Big 12 Co-Player of the Week	Rori Harmon	PG	January 3, 2023	^[49]
USBWA National Women's Player of the Week	Shaylee Gonzales	G	January 17, 2023	^[50]

Conference honors

Big 12 Coach of the Year	Vic Schaefer	Head coach
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year	Rori Harmon	G
Big 12 Newcomer of the Year	Shaylee Gonzales	G
All-Big 12 First Team	Rori Harmon	G
All-Big 12 First Team	DeYona Gaston	F
All-Big 12 Second Team	Shaylee Gonzales	G
Big 12 All-Defensive Team	Rori Harmon	G
Big 12 All-Freshman Team	Amina Muhammad	F

Source:^[51]

Rankings

See main article: 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings.

See also

• 2022–23 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team

Notes and References

1. News: Schnitker Andrew. Final Texas men’s basketball game at Erwin Center sold out. KXAN. February 22, 2022. March 22, 2022.
2. News: Davis Brian. Old-school: Texas to face Sam Houston State for first game at Gregory Gym in 44 years. Hookem. November 28, 2021. March 22, 2022.
3. News: Miller Andrew. Texas women’s basketball Elite 8 bound after upsetting Maryland. Hookem Headlines. March 22, 2022.
4. News: Voepel Mechelle. Dallas Wings take Charli Collier, Awak Kuier with top two picks in 2021 WNBA draft. ESPN. April 15, 2021. March 22, 2022.
5. News: Postins Matthew. Vic Schaefer Builds Recruiting Monster As Longhorns Keep Winning. SI. November 17, 2021. March 22, 2022.
6. News: 2021-22 Women's Basketball Schedule. Texas Sports. March 22, 2022.
7. News: BIG 12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS. Fox Sports. March 22, 2022.
8. News: Box Score vs. Iowa State. Texas Sports. March 12, 2022. March 15, 2022.
9. Web site: Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Women’s Basketball Awards Announced. Big 12 Sports.
10. News: 2021-22 Women's Basketball Roster. Texas Sports. March 22, 2022.
11. News: 2017-18 Women's Basketball Schedule. Texas Sports. March 22, 2022.
12. News: Green Arne. Texas' late third-quarter run dooms Kansas State women's basketball in quarterfinal loss. Courier Journal. March 11, 2022. March 22, 2022.
13. News: Box Score vs Iowa State . Texas Sports. January 19, 2022. March 22, 2022.
14. News: Box Score vs Iowa State . Texas Sports. February 16, 2022. March 22, 2022.
15. News: No. 7 Texas outlasts No. 10 Iowa State in OT in Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship Semifinals. Big 12 Sports. March 12, 2022. March 22, 2022.
16. News: Fact Book. Texas Sports. March 22, 2022.
17. News: Voepel Mechelle . Texas takes down Baylor to claim Big 12 women's basketball tournament title. ESPN. March 13, 2022. March 22, 2022.
18. News: 2022 Division I Women's Basketball Championship - First round. NCAA. March 18, 2022. March 30, 2022.
19. News: Davis Danny. Four takeaways from Texas' NCAA women's basketball tournament game against Utah. Austin American-Statesman. March 20, 2022. March 30, 2022.
20. News: Kaufman Joey. Ohio State women's basketball falls to Texas in Sweet 16 despite late comeback attempt. The Columbus Dispatch. March 25, 2022. March 30, 2022.
21. News: Weiner Natalie. Stanford Wins a Rematch With Texas and a Trip to the Final Four. The New York Times. March 27, 2022. March 30, 2022.
22. News: Hile Andrew . Aliyah Matharu Joins Gators for 2022-23 Season. Florida Gators. August 1, 2022. August 4, 2022.
23. News: Chevalier Ashley . Committed. Twitter. March 29, 2022. March 30, 2022.
24. News: Postins Matthew . Audrey Warren Announces Her Transfer Destination. SI. April 18, 2022. April 18, 2022.
25. News: Anderson Anthony . Grad student Lauren Ebo to join Notre Dame women's basketball program. ND Insider. April 30, 2022. May 1, 2022.
26. News: Miami Adds Transfer Latasha Lattimore to 2022-23 Roster. Miami Hurricanes. June 8, 2022. June 26, 2022.
27. News: Mettlen Shane. JMU WBB received a commitment from Texas transfer Kobe King-Hawea. 5-11 guard from Australia only played five games for the Longhorns due to injuries, but a major addition for the Dukes.. Twitter. July 6, 2022. July 6, 2022.
28. News: Cisneros Juan. Dionnah Jackson-Durrett named head coach of UMKC Roos. Fox 4 KC. March 30, 2022. April 1, 2022.
29. News: Davis Danny. After one season at Texas, April Phillips to lead San José State's basketball program. Austin American-Statesman. April 6, 2022. April 8, 2022.
30. News: Green Tabs Calamity McEntire as Illini Associate head coach. Fighting Illini. April 7, 2022. April 8, 2022.
31. News: We're ecstatic to announce Jazzmun Holmes as our Director of Basketball Operations!. Twitter. April 11, 2022. April 13, 2022.
32. News: Davis Danny. All-Big East honoree Sonya Morris to play final season of basketball at Texas. Austin American-Statesman . May 20, 2022. May 23, 2022.
33. News: Davis Danny. 'I’m coming home': Texas native Taylor Jones joins Longhorns after Oregon State transfer. Austin American-Statesman . April 23, 2022. April 24, 2022.
34. News: Women’s Basketball signs Khadija Faye. Texas Sports. June 14, 2022. June 14, 2022.
35. News: McDonald Ryan. Former BYU star Shaylee Gonzales announces her transfer destination — and it’s in the Big 12. Deseret News. July 11, 2022. July 11, 2022.
36. News: Women’s Basketball adds Elena Lovato to coaching staff. Texas Sports. April 15, 2022. April 16, 2022.
37. News: Wisdom-Hylton Lindsay. Excited to join the Longhorn family!. Twitter. September 13, 2022. September 20, 2022.
38. News: Women’s Basketball announces Sydney Carter as director of player development. Texas Sports. April 22, 2022. April 22, 2022.
39. News: Iowa State Tops Big 12 WBB Preseason Poll For First Time Since 2000-01. Big 12 Sports. October 6, 2022. October 10, 2022.
40. News: Rori Harmon selected to Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. Texas Sports. October 17, 2022. October 20, 2022.
41. News: Sonya Morris selected to Ann Meyers Drysdale watch list. Texas Sports. October 18, 2022. October 20, 2022.
42. News: Aaliyah Moore selected to Katrina McClain Award watch list. Texas Sports. October 20, 2022. October 20, 2022.
43. News: Shay Holle selected to Cheryl Miller Award watch list. Texas Sports. October 20, 2022. October 20, 2022.
44. News: Taylor Jones selected to Lisa Leslie Award watch list. Texas Sports. October 21, 2022. February 5, 2023.
45. News: Women’s Basketball’s Rori Harmon named to Wade Trophy Watch List. Texas Sports. November 30, 2022. February 5, 2023.
46. News: Big 12 Women’s Basketball Preseason Awards Announced. Big 12 Sports. October 5, 2022. October 10, 2022.
47. Web site: 2022-23 Women's Basketball Cumulative Statistics. Texassports.com.
48. Web site: UT’s Gaston, BU’s Littlepage-Buggs Earn Big 12 WBB Weekly Honors. Big 12 Sports.
49. Web site: UT’s Harmon, KU’s Jackson and TTU’s Shavers Selected For WBB Weekly Awards. Big 12 Sports.
50. Web site: UT's Gonzales selected USBWA National Women's Player of the Week. Big 12 Sports.
51. Web site: 2022-23 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Women’s Basketball Awards Announced. Big 12 Sports.