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Stacy Stephens didn't want anyone to forget her season-high 28 points against Texas Tech on Sunday, so she picked up in the Missouri game where she left off.
The senior center finished the first half going 7-for-8 with 14 points, after scoring Texas' first eight points.
After a slow start, the rest of the Texas offense started to follow its lone senior's lead and come alive. Forward Heather Schreiber scored 12 points, and freshman Tiffany Jackson added eight points.
Texas (20-2, 8-1) did not allow Missouri any second-chance points in the first 20 minutes.
"That's our focus," head coach Jody Conradt said. "We respected the fact that they're a big team. They're one of the big teams we'll play, and they have been able to really rebound the ball, so that was something I thought was critical, and we've done a good job with that. That has always been one of our strengths, and you don't want any opponent to take your strength."
The third-ranked Longhorns led at the half 50-26, a tie for the fifth-most points in the first half, before taking the game with a convincing 89-55 win. Texas is 16-0 when holding opponents under 62 points.
All five Longhorn starters finished the night scoring in double-digits. Stephens lead the team with 20 points, and Schreiber finished with 19 points, followed by Jackson with 16 points and six assists. Jamie Carey and Kala Bowers scored 12 points each. Bowers also had 10 rebounds for her first double-double ever.
"Kala was so intent on getting her first double-double of her career," Conradt said. "The happiest person in the locker room is Kala."
As for Stephens' second straight impressive night, she took a little good-natured ribbing on her shot selection and availability from Schreiber.
"She was 10-for-11 so she's been shooting really well," Schreiber said. "But you know she's been getting good position under the goal also, so she can shoot a lot easier shots, and I think that always helps. I mean it's easier to shoot closer layups than it is farther. I think it helps, because we started to see her more. At the beginning of the season and the last couple of games, we weren't giving her the ball whenever she was open, and we were kind of forcing her to take harder shots by not giving her the ball whenever she had a good pin or when she was closer to the bucket for an easier shot."
"I'll try to take what Heather said as a compliment," Stephens said with a laugh. "Tiffany and Heather are both doing a really great job of giving the ball to me in a better spot, where I'm a lot more comfortable, just getting it and going straight up like I know how to do the best. Honestly, I can't put anything more in besides that fact that my teammates are giving me great passes and giving me the ball when I need it and making it really easy for me right now."
Missouri was lead by Evan Unrau and Stretch James who scored 16 and 17 points, respectively. Unrau also had eight rebounds for the 2-6 Tigers, two short of her fifth-straight double-double. Texas also held senior guard Tracy Lozier to two points and three rebounds. Lozier has scored in the double-digits the past six games before Tuesday.
The win makes it 31 consecutive home wins, a tie for third in Texas history.
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