Tonight marks the last regular season home game for the Texas women’s basketball team as TCU travels to Austin. Four seniors will be stepping out on the court for the final time in the regular season: Empress Davenport, Celina Rodrigo, Brady Sanders and Imani Boyette.
It shouldn’t be the final time these seniors play at the Frank Erwin Center. Right now, the team is projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and will host the first two rounds.
TCU travels to Austin with a 7-9 record in Big 12 play and a 15-12 overall record. The Horned Frogs were on a three-game winning streak before losing to West Virginia in Morgantown on Wednesday, 72-83.
Texas enters the game with a 14-2 conference record and a 25-2 overall record. The Longhorns earned their 25th victory of the season against Texas Tech on Wednesday. This season marks the first time since the 2003-04 season that Texas has won a minimum of 25 games. With the win against Texas Tech, the Longhorns also land at least the No. 2 spot in the Big 12 conference with a chance to tie for first with victories against TCU and Baylor to end the season.
Pregame events for tonight’s game will include a farewell to the Longhorns’ four seniors. Davenport, Rodrigo and Boyette all stepped on the 40 acres in 2012 for the first time. Sanders enrolled at Texas in 2011 but redshirted her freshman season.
Davenport came to the University of Texas from Duncanville High School. As a freshman, the guard played in 29 games with 886 total minutes, recording a team-high in minutes played that season. During her sophomore campaign, Davenport helped Texas beat its Red River rival, Oklahoma, with a team-high 15 points in 31 minutes of play. Davenport earned Academic All-Big 12 second team for her junior season. The Duncanville native entered this season tied with Rodrigo in Texas’ active career starts with 63.
Rodrigo traveled to Texas from Marietta, Georgia. The guard played in all 30 Texas games her freshman season, joining Boyette and Sanders as the only three freshman to do so. She led the team in assists (111) and steals (40) that season. As a sophomore, Rodrigo competed in every game and led the team in assists again. She finished her sophomore campaign ranked ninth in the Big 12 for assists. Rodrigo led Texas to the Sweet 16 in her junior season, starting in all three NCAA postseason games. Entering her senior season, Rodrigo led UT’s active career assists and assist-to-turnover ratio categories. Her and Sanders entered this season tied for Texas’ active most games played with 98.
Sanders enrolled at UT from Godley, Texas, a city in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with a population a little over 1,000. The guard underwent surgery in December of her freshman year to repair a herniated disk in her neck, causing her to redshirt. The next season, as a redshirt freshman, Sanders recorded an 84 percent free throw percentage, leading the team. Sanders competed in every game during her sophomore season, starting in 17 of 18 Big 12 games. That season she scored a total of 246 points. During her junior season, Sanders finished second on the team in made 3-point field goals with 36. She earned All-Big 12 honorable mention that year. Entering her senior season, Sanders ranked 10th all-time at Texas in career free throw percentage.
Boyette’s journey to Texas started in Los Angeles, California. The center enrolled at Texas and immediately made an impact. During her freshman season, Boyette started rewriting Texas’ record books with her 75 blocks that created a new best for a Texas freshman. To date, Boyette ranks 25th on the Longhorns’ all-time scoring list with 1,284 career points. She stands at seventh in career rebounds with 961 but only needs six more to move into sixth place, passing Annette Smith. With a total of 287 career blocks, Boyette sits a third in Texas history. Three more blocks and Boyette will own the second-place position.
Texas enters senior night on a three-game winning streak. The last time these two schools faced each other, Texas won 65-58. Tonight’s tipoff is set for 7p.m. CT, airing on Longhorn Network.
