The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The recent scoring spree continued for Lashann Higgs as she led her No.8 Texas Longhorns to another conference win.

Higgs finished with a team high 26 points in the Longhorns' 75-64 win over the Kansas State Wildcats at the Bramiage Colesium in Manhattan, Kansas, on Sunday.

Higgs shot 9-12 from the field, 3-3 from beyond the arch and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. She tied her career high with three made three-point field goals and also added four assists and three steals in 29 minutes of play.

It continues a career week of productivity for Higgs who has averaged 28 points per game over the last three contests. In that time period she has shot 71.4 per cent from the field, 80 per cent from the three-point line and 92.3 per cent from the free-throw line.

Higgs finished with a career high 30 points as her Longhorns protected home court with an 84-79 win over the No.20 Oklahoma Sooners on Wednesday night. That surpassed her previous career high of 25 points set in a December 28 win over the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Longhorns improved to 13-1 and are undefeated at 4-0 in Big 12 play thus far. Kansas led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter and Texas trailed by as many as seven points in the first half. Powered by Higgs, they closed the second quarter on a 10-4 run to take the lead at the break. Higgs scored all of the Longhorns' 10 points on the run and they outscored the Wildcats 22-11 in the period. The Longhorns took a 34-36 lead at the half.

Texas dominated the second half and their lead was nearly unchallenged.They shot 40.3 per cent from the field and have shot better than 40 per cent from the field in every win this season. Texas' lead went largely uncontested in the second half of play. Back-to-back periods of scoring 22 points in the second and third quarters while allowing the Wildcats offence only 11 and 18 points respectively gave the Longhorns a strong lead.

Texas took advantage of their momentum and utilised a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to seal the win. "I would say it was more about trusting my work more," the junior guard said about her improved confidence and production this season. "It was kind of forcing myself to be mentally tough for the team. I would say since I'm starting to focus more on defence, it kind of takes the pressure off of me to perform more offensively because our team can score. If I can play defence and help the team that way more than I can play offence, then I'll do that."

Kansas State drops to 9-6 and just 1-3 in conference play. The Longhorns now lead the all-time series with the Wildcats 21-14 and Texas has claimed eight of the last nine meetings, including six consecutive.

The Longhorns out-rebounded the Wildcats 47-26 which marked the 13th time in 14 games this season that Texas has won the battle of the boards and the 73rd time in the last 84 games. Higgs will look to continue her scoring run when the Longhorns face the TCU Horned Frogs at 7pm local time tomorrow night.