AUSTIN, Texas — Freshman Justice Carlton and senior Shay Holle each scored 15 points and No. 4 Texas defeated Lamar 95-58 Wednesday night.

Holle converted 3 of 4 3-point attempts. Carlton added three steals.

Madison Booker of Texas (2-0), an AP preseason All-American, missed the game with a sore hamstring and her status is day-to-day.

Freshman Jordan Lee started in place of Booker and scored 12 points. Bryanna Preston, also a freshman, added nine points, four assists and two steals.

Point guard Rori Harmon finished with eight points, eight assists and five steals in 18 minutes. Harmon, who missed the final 26 games last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, limped off the court in the third quarter after tweaking her ankle. She later returned to the game.

Akasha Davis led Lamar (1-1) with 14 points. Sabria Dean scored 13.

Takeaways

Lamar: The Cardinals, defending Southland Conference regular-season champions, trailed Texas 51-14 at halftime. The Cardinals matched the Longhorns’ 44 points in the second half.

Texas: Laila Phelia, an all-Big Ten guard at Michigan last season, made her debut for Texas. She had eight points in 21 minutes as a reserve. Phelia averaged nearly 17 points last season.

Key moment

Texas outscored Lamar 20-3 during the final 7:12 of the first quarter. The Cardinals made only three free throws during the span. The Longhorns, using full-court defensive pressure, coaxed 10 turnovers in the quarter, seven of them steals. Harmon made four of the steals.

Key stat

Lamar committed 22 turnovers in the first half, allowing Texas to take a 51-14 lead at the break. The Longhorns made 14 steals in the half.

Up next

Lamar plays at SMU on Nov. 22, and Texas is at DePaul on Sunday.

AUSTIN — Texas men’s basketball signed four star top-50 prospect John Clark on National Signing Day.

Houston native Clark is a 6 ft 9 in forward who plays at Link Academy in Missouri, previously playing at Klein Cain High School from his freshman to junior season. Clark is ranked as a four-star recruit, the No. 37 overall prospect by 247 Sports Composite, No. 38 by On3, No. 40 by ESPN, and No. 42 by Rivals.

“John Clark brings a unique blend of finesse and power to the court and the kind of versatility that’s crucial to succeed in the SEC,” said recruiting analyst Blue Zertuche of Great American Shoot-Out, per media release. “He can score with touch around the rim but isn’t afraid to use his physicality when needed. John’s skill set has shown consistent growth over the past few years. Playing against top-tier, athletic competition in the SEC will only accelerate his development, helping him refine his game even further.”

This is the second consecutive year the Longhorns recruit out of Link Academy, the latest being star forward Tre Johnson. The boarding school in Branson, Mo. is known for its sports teams, specifically its basketball program, which won the National Championship in 2023.

As a junior at Klein Cain, Clark averaged 17.8 points and 13.1 rebounds per game while converting 61 percent from the floor, leading all 6A players in Texas in rebounds per game and double-doubles with 22.

His list of honors includes an All-Adidas Performer recognition on the 2024 Adidas 3SSB circuit this past summer while competing for T.J. Ford Elite and a spot on the All-Greater Houston Boys Basketball second team by the Houston Chronicle.

Clark is the first signing for the Longhorns in this recruiting cycle.

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AUSTIN, Texas — True to tradition, Democratic Sen. Judith Zaffirini, dean of the Texas Senate, this week filed the first Senate bill ahead of the 89th Texas legislative session.

“Before a session is over, we’re already working for the next session,” Zaffirini said.

The first 40 bills in the Senate are reserved for the lieutenant governor’s priorities. Zaffirini’s Senate Bills 41 to 74 have a large focus on education. She reintroduced a bill that would allocate state funds to provide free pre-kindergarten to families.

“The reason I keep filing is that I believe so strongly in it and that times change, people change, situations change,” Zaffirini said.

Education is a priority for many Democrats in the lower chamber. Rep. Mary González introduced multiple bills that focus on providing quality education from early childhood through higher education.

“I really think of all my bills as a birth through career type of agenda. So we have everything from inclusive child care to exploring the ways in which special education is addressed in higher education,” González said.

Education is a large priority for both parties, though many Republicans support the idea of school vouchers to allocate taxpayer dollars towards private schools.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said last week that private school vouchers are his priority. His preferred bill has not been filed but is expected to be debated in the first 60 days of the session during which only his priorities are taken up.

This year, college students across the state spoke out against the law that removed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices from their campuses. Democratic Rep. John Bucy filed a bill to repeal the ban while Republican Rep. Carl Tepper wants to take it one step further.

“We just want to put everyone on a level playing field,” Tepper said.

He filed a bill to ban DEI offices and initiatives from government entities. He expects this bill to be successful.

“The offices of diversity, equity and inclusion, which I think is a misnomer, they were really weaponized to be sort of a reverse discrimination against Asians or white people and others, and showing favoritism of some races over others and certainly sexual orientation as well,” Tepper said.

Republican lawmakers are also focused on a number of bills involving border security.

Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson filed a bill in the House to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving in-state tuition by requiring a university to notify law enforcement of undocumented students.

She was unavailable for an interview but said in a statement: “This legislation is a top priority of the Texas GOP, and it honors the message Texas voters delivered when they elected me and other like-minded conservatives to the Texas House.”

Lawmakers will gavel in January. Zaffirini — who has never missed a vote during her tenure — is looking forward to the first debate.