Texas Longhorns take Team of the Week honor

With 19 straight wins, the Texas Longhorns currently have the second longest winning streak in Division I. Though it pales in comparison to the record 100-game streak that UConn is currently riding, Texas sent a message over the last eight days with two road wins over top-5 teams in Baylor and Florida State, sandwiched around a home win over Kansas.

Texas, 21-4, opened the week by defeating Baylor in Waco, 85-79 as junior Brooke McCarty totaled a season-high 22 points and freshman Joyner Holmes posted her sixth double-double of the season, with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. The win broke No. 2 Baylor's 21-game winning streak and handed the Lady Bears their first loss inside the Ferrell Center in nearly three years. With the win, Texas snapped a 14-game losing streak to Baylor, with the last win coming on March 7, 2010. McCarty's 22-point night came — on a 9-of-14 effort from the field — helped her become the 42nd member of the Texas 1,000-point club. She filled the box score with five rebounds and four assists.

On Feb. 11, the Longhorns crushed Kansas 75-42 as Holmes picked up her seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while junior Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau swatted away a career-high five blocks. With the win, Texas reached the 20-win plateau for the fourth consecutive season. As a team, Texas shot 46.4 percent (32-69) from the field while holding Kansas to a 21.3 shooting percentage (13-61). The Longhorns outrebounded the Jayhawks, 59-30, and totaled a season-high 13 blocks, tying the fourth-best performance in program history.

Showing resiliency, Texas prevailed on the road on Feb. 13 at No. 4 Florida State, 92-88 in double overtime as McCarty scored a career-high 29 points while playing in all 50 minutes of game action — connecting on five 3-pointers and dishing out eight assists in the process. This was the first time Texas has played in a double overtime game since Jan. 29, 2015, against Oklahoma. Junior Ariel Akins followed suit with 21 points along with seven boards and a team-high two steals. Holmes dropped her eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

The Big 12 Conference leader with a 14-0 league mark, Texas faces several more obstacles in the week ahead. The Longhorns will travel to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the Oklahoma Sooners this Saturday, Feb. 18. Two days later on Feb. 20, Texas will host Baylor in a rematch with regular season title implications hanging in the balance.

Honorable mention teams of the week: Belmont, Bucknell, Chattanooga, Dayton, Gonzaga, Little Rock, Maryland, Middle Tennessee, Rider, UConn and Wright State.