LAS VEGAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – Aliyah Matharu scored 22 points and DeYona Gaston notched her first double-double of the season to lead No. 11 Texas to a 74-59 victory over San Diego on Sunday in a match-up that was put together late Saturday night.
Texas (8-1) was supposed to play No. 4 Arizona (10-0) as part of the Coast-to-Coast Challenge, but the Wildcats were forced to pull out due to COVID-19 protocols and contact tracing within the Wildcats’ program.
San Diego volunteered to step in and play the Longhorns.
On Saturday, Texas head coach Coach Vic Schaefer tweeted, “Does anyone want to play us at 2:30 tomorrow on ESPN in the T-Mobile Arena here in Las Vegas? We need an opponent as Arizona is in Covid protocol. I know it’s late but it’s an opportunity. Give me a call or DM me back.”
Does anyone want to play us at 2:30 tomorrow on ESPN in the T-Mobile Arena here in Las Vegas? We need an opponent as Arizona is in Covid protocol. I know it’s late but it’s an opportunity. Give me a call or DM me back.
— Vic Schaefer (@CoachVic_UT) December 19, 2021
He received a lot of fun replies from people joking they’d love to come play, just fly them out there.
In the end, they got an actual college team to compete against.
Head coach Vic Schaefer of the Texas Longhorns reacts during the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge against the San Diego Toreros at T-Mobile Arena on December 19, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Longhorns defeated the Toreros 74-58. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Matharu sank 7 of 13 shots for Texas with two 3-pointers. Gaston finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Audrey Warren pitched in with 10 points and seven boards, while Joanne Allen-Taylor scored 10.
Texas led just 14-12 after one quarter, but Latasha Lattimore scored six of her eight points in the second period and the Longhorns outscored the Toreros 20-12 to take a 34-24 lead into halftime. Texas stayed comfortably in front from there.
Kiera Oakry hit three 3-pointers and scored 16 points to lead San Diego (7-4).
The Longhorns shot 46% overall but made just 2 of 9 from beyond the arc. San Diego shot 35% overall and hit 4 of 13 from distance. Texas scored 27 points off 21 San Diego turnovers. The Longhorns also made 15 more trips to the free-throw line than the Toreros and finished with a 22-14 edge at the line.
After the game, Coach Schaefer returned to Twitter to thank the University of San Diego for coming to Las Vegas to play the Longhorns.
Big shout out to The University of San Diego, @CoachCFisher and her team for coming to Las Vegas and playing today. USD is well coached and plays extremely hard. Appreciate you very much. Good luck the rest of the season. You all are going to have a great year. #GoTorero’s
— Vic Schaefer (@CoachVic_UT) December 20, 2021
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
