Allen-Taylor helps No. 12 Texas beats Princeton 70-53

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — Joanne Allen-Taylor scored 18 points and Rori Harmon added 15 to help No. 12 Texas beat Princeton 70-53 on Wednesday.

This was the first meeting ever between the teams. Texas was just looking to fill out its non-conference schedule in the offseason and was content to play the Ivy League school.

With both teams going on break for the holidays after the game, the noon tip time didn’t lead to stellar play in the first half. The two programs combined to shoot 22 for 65 in the opening 20 minutes, including missing 14 of 15 3-point attempts. The Longhorns held a 32-21 halftime advantage.

Princeton (7-4) went on a 10-2 run to start the third quarter and trailed 41-36 before Texas (9-1) closed the period on a 9-3 spurt. Allen-Taylor had five points during the burst. The Tigers were able to get within 53-44 early in the fourth quarter before Texas scored nine straight to put the game away.

Texas was missing sophomore forward Deyona Gaston, who had a double-double in the team’s last game on Sunday.

Abby Meyers scored 21 points to lead Princeton while Ellie Mitchell added 10 points and 16 rebounds — including 12 offensive. The Tigers outrebounded the Longhorns 41-31.

Texas was the highest ranked school to visit Princeton since No. 6 Rutgers in 2007. The last ranked team to come to Jadwin Gymnasium was No. 24 Delaware in 2011 when Elena Delle Donne starred for the Blue Hens.

The Tigers already had a win over one ranked team this season, beating then-No. 22 Florida Gulf Coast 58-55 on Dec. 1. It was Princeton’s first win over a ranked team in 43 years.

CRISSCROSSING THE COUNTRY:

It’s been a long week for Texas. The Longhorns were scheduled to play No. 4 Arizona in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge in Las Vegas on Sunday. That game was canceled when the Wildcats had COVID-19 issues in the program. Texas then was able to get San Diego to fly in and play them in Las Vegas. The Longhorns flew east after the game and have been in the area since early Monday morning. After the game against Princeton the team will break for the holidays.

UP NEXT

Texas: Hosts Alcorn State next Wednesday before opening Big 12 play at Oklahoma State.

Princeton: Hosts Central Florida next Wednesday before opening Ivy play against Harvard.

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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25