No. 13 Texas women begin season with win over Southern behind double-doubles by Jones and Muhammad

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Taylor Jones had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Amina Muhammad added 14 points and 14 boards, and No. 13 Texas began its season with an 80-35 victory over Southern on Wednesday night.

Texas jumped out to a 21-7 lead after the first quarter as Southern made just 3 of 8 shots and turned it over nine times. Muhammad scored 10 points in the opening 10 minutes.

Texas led 45-15 at halftime as Southern was 7-of-22 shooting with 14 turnovers. Muhammad secured her double-double in the first half with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Longhorns were just 3 of 14 from 3-point range, but still shot 45% overall in the half.

Rori Harmon, who was picked by the conference coaches as the Big 12 preseason player of the year, had eight points, seven rebounds and nine assists for Texas, which has won its last 11 home openers. Madison Booker, selected as the Big 12 preseason freshman of the year, added seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Southern (0-1) finished 14 of 48 from the field (29%), including 2 of 12 from 3-point range, with 22 turnovers. Ten Jaguars played, but none scored more than seven points.

Last season the Longhorns were 22-0 when they held an opponent to 59 points or less.

TOUGH STRETCH

It was the second of five straight Power Five opponents to begin the season for Southern. The Jaguars were coming off an 85-53 loss at Baylor on Monday. Southern plays at Purdue on Sunday, followed by games at Miami and Iowa State.

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