UT Women win Big XII tournament opener

KANSAS CITY, MO(KXAN) - The 15th ranked Texas women moved into the quarterfinal round of the Big XII Tournament with a 64-59 win over Missouri Thursday afternoon at Kansas City's Memorial Auditorium.

Senior Brittainey Raven led a balanced Texas attack with 11 points.  The Longhorns trailed the 12th seeded Tigers by a point at halftime before grabbing the lead on an Ernesia Williams three pointer and never trailed again even though the 12th seeded Tigers kept things close. 

"From from this point in the year and through the NCAA tournament its just survive and advance, " said Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors.  "I feel like thats what we did today, we survived."

With her nine points, Williams went over the 1000 career point mark, becoming the 3rd active Longhorn to score that many points.

Texas has now won three straight and improves to 22-9. The Longhorns will face 4th seeded  Texas A&M in a Friday afternoon quarterfinal game.  The Aggies swept the regular season series with a 21 point win in Austin and a 14 point win in College Station.