The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SHE entered the Texas Longhorns programme as a heralded freshman and now Lashann Higgs is headed into her senior season projected to be one of the top players in the Big 12 conference.

Higgs was named to the 10-member Preseason All-Big 12 Team when the conference announced its Preseason honours as well as preseason player, freshman and newcomer of the year for the 2018-19 women’s basketball season.

The awards are chosen by head coaches who are not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.

Higgs was joined on the team by Longhorns teammate Joyner Holmes, Kalani Brown (Baylor), Lauren Cox (Baylor), Bridget Carleton (Iowa State), Kayla Goth (K-State), Shaina Pellington (Oklahoma), Braxtin Miller (Oklahoma State), Amy Okonkwo (TCU) and Tynice Martin (West Virginia). The preseason team was expanded this year to match the postseason honours.

The 2018-19 season gets underway on Tuesday, November 6 with three non-conference games. League action begins on Wednesday, January 2.

The Texas women’s basketball team will have three national television appearances on ESPN2 this season.

Texas and Tennessee will meet on Sunday, December 9 in Austin. The Longhorns will face West Virginia on the road on Sunday, January 6. Texas will then host Baylor on Monday, February 4.

The Longhorns enter the season ranked No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Both the Longhorns men’s and women’s basketball programmes hosted the Texas Tip-Off last week to give fans an early look at the squads and set their expectations for the season.

“I think she is the most improved,” Longhorns head coach Karen Aston said of Higgs. “You [the fans] have a top 10 team. What gets us to the next level, in terms of the Erwin Center being a rough place to play … is the student body.”

Higgs is one of three seniors on the Longhorns roster for the upcoming 2018-19 season. She enters her senior season 36 points away from becoming the 44th player in programme history to reach 1,000 career points.

She comes off a season where she claimed All-Big 12 Second Team, Big 12 All-Defensive Team, USWBA National Player of the Week and Big 12 Player of the Week honours.

As a junior, she started 35 games and averaged 12.8 points per game, which ranked third on the team, 3.3 rebounds per game and was third on the squad with 1.4 steals per game. She scored in double figures on 21 occasions, including four 20-plus point performances.

Higgs was named the USBWA National Player of the Week and the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week after leading Texas to a pair of comeback wins against Oklahoma State and Kansas State.

During the two-game stretch, she averaged 28.0 points per game, shot 74.1 per cent from the field, connected on 80 per cent of her shots from beyond the arc and made 92.3 per cent [12-of-13] of her free throws. Also, she led the steals with 2.5 per game and added 2.0 assists per game and 2.5 rebounds per game in an average of 30.5 minutes per game.

Higgs scored a career-high 30 points and helped Texas overcome a six-point deficit with 3:43 remaining to defeat No. 20/23 Oklahoma State.

In her sophomore season, Higgs - a Harbour Island native - averaged eight points, three rebounds, 1.5 assists and one steal in just over 17 minutes per game. She built upon the numbers from her freshman season when she averaged 7.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game in 13.2 minutes.