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SALT LAKE CITY — Everything is bigger in Texas, and that includes shooting percentages.
The second-seeded Longhorns shot 64% from the field and rolled to a 78-56 victory over a seventh-seeded Utah team in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 in the second round of the women's NCAA Tournament Sunday. It ended a good run for the Utes who are a year removed from a season where the program won only five games.
With that type of lopsided win, it would be easy to believe Utah shot at a low rate, but that was far from the truth. The Utes, who made it to the second game of the weekend for the first time since 2009, shot 51% from the field and managed six 3-pointers in the loss.
"If you look at our shooting percentage, we shot 51% — that's pretty good," Utah head coach Lynne Roberts said. "But the problem is it comes down to chances, and we always talk about that, the opportunities. We need to have more opportunities than — because we can score it, we can shoot it, but we only had two offensive rebounds and we turned it over 19 times."
And though Utah shot well from the field, it was a stifling defense by Texas that overwhelmed the lower-seeded Utes.
After a close contest to start the game, where Utah trailed 19-17 and battled shot for shot with Texas, the Longhorns turned up the intensity in the second quarter and took control of the game. Texas pressed Utah and took them out of their normally quick-tempo offense and forced the Utes out of the paint in a stout half-court set.
On the other end, Texas couldn't miss and Utah couldn't stop it. The Longhorns closed out the half making 10 straight field goals to take a 14-point lead into the halftime break, and it only grew from there — Texas eventually built up a 26-point lead in the third quarter.
Between the second and third quarters, Texas hit 16 straight buckets in what was the team's best shooting performance of the season.
"I thought Texas played just incredibly well. I've watched so much film on them, and that's the best I've seen them shoot, at least in the games I saw," Roberts said. "They did a phenomenal job today. They were really, really good, and they shoot like that, the way they defend, they're going to be really hard for anyone to beat."
Utah handled Texas well in the first quarter and found ways to split its defense with extra passes and kickouts for 3-point looks. It all led to the Utes and Longhorns locked in a tight battle before Texas increased its pressure and took away shots.
"I think we started off the game very well as far as pressure-wise," senior guard Dru Gylten said. "I think those first couple of minutes, I think we really got reversals and were getting wide-open shots. Maybe we didn't make them all the time but we were in control. Then I think that second half, yeah, maybe they just got into our heads a little bit and we were trying to do a little too much as far as somebody.
"We just wanted somebody to make a play and kind of relying on other people to do stuff and kind of got away from what we do best."
Roberts points to a stretch where her team committed three consecutive turnovers and Texas took over.
"We were right there and then we had three turnovers in a row, and then suddenly it was like bang, bang, bang, and then we're down 10 or whatever," she said. "It just kind of happened fast and then we were in a bit of a deficit."
On a night when Texas couldn't miss, any mistake proved costly, and Utah found that out quickly. By the time Texas capitalized, it was already too late for Utah.
"Those are missed opportunities for us to get a good shot up, and their pressure is very good," Roberts said. "But I felt like when we got a clean look, we were able to shoot for percentage. Then on the other side, they shot 85% in the second quarter. I mean, that's just incredible. Then they shot 64% from the game; and yes, I don't think our defense was as tough as it needed to be, as physical as it needed to be, but I also think good offense beats good defense, and they were feeling it today."
Texas forward Aaliyah Moore was unstoppable from the field and finished with a team-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and five rebounds. Aliyah Matharu added 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Utah sophomore Kennady McQueen finished with a team-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and four rebounds in the loss. Freshman Jenna Johnson added 14 points, and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Gianna Kneepkens was held to only 4 points on 2-of-7 shooting.
"Incredibly proud of my team for the season that we had," Roberts said. "I told them after the game that sometimes you just have to give the other team credit."
