Texas vs. Kentucky basketball: Replay, highlights as Texas beats another ranked opponent

For the Texas women’s basketball team, a busy week began with a win.

Justice Carlton scored 17 points to lead No. 4 Texas to a 64-53 win over No. 16 Kentucky at Moody Center. With the victory, Texas extended its home winning streak to 40 games.

Texas (23-2, 8-2) has also beaten a ranked opponent in each of its last three games. The Longhorns are 9-2 against top-25 teams this season.

Carlton scored 12 of her points during Monday’s first quarter, and she later knocked down a big 3-pointer after Kentucky made things interesting in the final frame. Carlton has scored at least 16 points in two of her last three games, and she also had a 17-point game against Auburn last month.

In addition to Carlton’s contributions, Texas got 13 points from sophomore guard Jordan Lee. Texas junior Madison Booker was limited to a season-low eight points while shooting 1-for-6 from the field, but the All-American forward did tally five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

More: Longhorns believe freshman Aaliyah Crump has the ‘it’ factor

Kentucky (18-7, 5-6) was led by Asia Boone’s 16 points while Clara Strack and Tonie Morgan respectively added 14 and 12 points. Kentucky trailed by as many as 14 points in Monday’s third quarter, but the Wildcats weren’t able to complete their rally after pulling within 49-48 with 6:23 left.

Up next for Texas is Thursday’s trip to see a fifth-ranked Vanderbilt team that has SEC Player of the Year candidate Mikayla Blakes and former UT guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda on its roster. The Longhorns will then play a road game at No. 22 Tennessee this upcoming Sunday.

Texas sophomore forward Justice Carlton’s fifth 3-pointer of the season has extended the Texas lead back to six points. Carlton has scored 17 points tonight.

With two free throws, senior center Kyla Oldacre has given Texas a little bit of breathing room since its last timeout. Oldacre will also shoot two free throws after this media timeout.

Kentucky had a chance to tie the game, but Asia Boone’s 3-point attempt rimmed out with 5:13 left. Boone has made four of her six deep tries tonight.

A bad fourth-quarter stretch by reserve forward Ashton Judd has opened the door for a Kentucky rally. Judd made her first appearance of the night with 8:11 left in the game and subsequently missed two free throws, badly missed a 3-pointer and committed a turnover. With Judd and the rest of her Texas team struggling, Kentucky went on a 5-0 run and forced a UT timeout.

For those doing math at home, Kentucky trails by one points. The Wildcats are 8-for-15 from the free throw line. 

Texas struggled offensively in the third quarter, but Kentucky wasn’t much better over the past 10 minutes. The Longhorns were held to 10 points in the third quarter while shooting 26.7% from the field and committing six turnovers. Meanwhile, Kentucky missed eight of its 12 shots in the third quarter and gave away the basketball on seven occasions.

Justice Carlton leads Texas with her 14 points, but the sophomore forward has scored just once since the first quarter. Kentucky guard Asia Boone leads all scorers with her 16 points.

Despite having as many turnovers as made shots in the second half (three), Texas has maintained its 10-point lead over the visiting Wildcats. Texas has also forced four Kentucky turnovers in the second half, two of which were offensive fouls on UK guard Teonni Key that were drawn by UT counterparts Rori Harmon and Jordan Lee.

Behind Justice Carlton’s 12 points and the 13 turnovers forced by its defense, Texas has built a 10-point lead at the halftime break. Texas scored the final 10 points of the first half.

So far this season, Texas is 22-0 when it leads at halftime.

In addition to Carlton’s offensive efforts, Texas got eight points from Jordan Lee and six points from Madison Booker. Senior guard Rori Harmon ended the halftime with her first basket, which were scored on a highlight-reel play in which she broke down a UK defender and knocked down a jumper.

Asia Boone leads Kentucky with her 12 points. Boone has been responsible for four of Kentucky’s six 3-pointers.

Kentucky guard Asia Boone has knocked down all three of the 3-pointers that she has attempted in the second quarter. Two of those 3-pointers were made in the past 30 seconds, and Texas coach Vic Schaefer was forced to take a timeout after the Liberty transfer knocked down an open try from behind the arch.

The first quarter belonged to the Longhorns’ sophomore class as Justice Carlton and Jordan Lee combined to score 17 points. The No. 9 and No. 12 prospects in the 2024 recruiting class, Lee and Carlton were respectively averaging 10.8 and 7.9 points per game in conference play. Lee opened Monday’s game with five quick points while Carlton scored 12.

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Carlton shot 6-for-7 from the field with her only miss being a 3-pointer, and the 6-foot-1 forward also recorded two steals and a block. Lee made two of her three attempts and a free throw.

Kentucky seized two short-lived leads in the first quarter. The Wildcats made three 3-pointers but also committed five turnovers.

Justice Carlton scored eight of the Longhorns’ first 11 points, and Jordan Lee has also chipped in three early points. Madison Booker has been held without a shot so far, but UT’s leading scorer has assists on baskets scored by Carlton and Lee.

Kentucky center Clara Strack is responsible for half of her team’s points.

TV/radio: SEC Network, 1300 AM

At stake for Texas on Monday night will be a 39-game home winning streak, which is tied with TCU for the longest active streak among Division I basketball teams. Texas last lost at home on Jan. 24, 2024 against rival Oklahoma. Since then, UT has pieced together a winning streak that includes 11 regular-season wins over ranked opponents and four victories in the NCAA tournament.

Texas owns an overall record of 64-5 at Moody Center, which opened ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Before Moody Center opened, Texas called the Erwin Center its home for 45 seasons. The Longhorns’ longest winning streak in that venue was a 45-game run that spanned four seasons in the 1980s.

• Nov. 3: Texas 123, Incarnate Word 51
• Nov. 7: Texas 85, Richmond 56
• Nov. 10: Texas 100, Louisiana 38
• Nov. 16: Texas 111, Texas Southern 45
• Nov. 19: Texas 95, James Madison 56
• Nov. 26: Texas 76, UCLA 65
• Nov. 27: Texas 66, South Carolina 64
• Nov. 30: Texas 81, Penn 63
• Dec. 4: Texas 79, North Carolina 64
• Dec. 7: Texas 101, Prairie View A&M 42
• Dec. 10: Texas 110, UTRGV 45
• Dec. 14: Texas 89, Baylor 54
• Dec. 17: Texas 96, Northwestern State 38
• Dec. 22: Texas 70, South Dakota State 51
• Dec. 28: Texas 120, Southeastern Louisiana 38
• Jan. 1: Texas 89, Missouri 71
• Jan. 4: Texas 67, Ole Miss 64
• Jan. 8: Texas 97, Auburn 36
• Jan. 11: LSU 70, Texas 65
• Jan. 15: South Carolina 68, Texas 65
• Jan. 18: Texas 80, Texas A&M 35
• Jan. 29: Texas 88, Florida 68
• Feb. 1: Texas 78, Oklahoma 70
• Feb. 5: Texas 77, LSU 64