Holle, Gaston lead Texas into Big 12 Championship Game showdown with Iowa State

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Over the years, Shay Holle has seemingly developed an affinity for Kansas City.

After all, her father played professional football in Kansas City for four seasons and the Chiefs remain her favorite NFL team. She's also won a championship in the city since the 6-foot guard started for a Texas women's basketball team that won the 2022 Big 12 Tournament.

Last week, Holle once again traveled to Kansas City. She arrived Thursday with her teammates and her parents got to town a day later. And after enjoying a weekend in the city, Holle made sure to extend everyone's stay for another day on Monday.

Two big shots by Holle lifted UT to a 71-64 win over Kansas State at the T-Mobile Center. With the victory, Texas (29-4) advances to play Iowa State (20-10) in Tuesday's Big 12 Championship Game.

"It's a lot of fun. I think it being the last Big 12 Tournament before we go to the SEC makes it even more special," Holle said. "But yeah, my whole family's here. Mom, dad, grandparents, all the sisters, everyone, so it's awesome seeing them in the stands. I think they've had fun just exploring the city, probably my dad showing them around old places."

Texas led by as many as 14 points in Monday's first half, but Kansas State battled back to take two late leads in the fourth quarter. Kansas State then forced a 61-61 tie with 1:29 left on a Brylee Glenn layup, which set the stage for Holle.

With 1:13 left, Holle was left open after Kansas State collapsed to defend Texas forward Aaliyah Moore. Moore dished the basketball to Holle, who calmly knocked down the 3-pointer.

Thirty-five seconds later, Texas had senior guard Shaylee Gonzales inbounding the basketball near its bench after a Kansas State foul. Holle broke free toward the basket and Gonzales lofted a pass right to her teammate. Holle easily scored.

Those two baskets gave UT a 66-61 lead. They were set up by UT's ninth and 10th assists of the night.

"So it was obviously a sideline out-of-bounds play and you would think there would be defense back there sitting in the paint, but there was absolutely no one there," Gonzales said. "I see Shay wide open and just lob-passed it to her. So, perfect play."

Said Moore: "Shay's three was big. It just happened to be my one assist for the game and so I'll take it. It's clutch people making clutch shots moments that we needed. She was open, I passed it to her, and she made it."

After that short scoring spurt, Holle also forced Kansas State guard Serena Sundell into a traveling call. A member of the Big 12 all-defensive team, Holle finished with 11 points after being held scoreless over the 80 minutes she played in both of the Longhorns' games against Kansas State during the regular season.

"I thought we were fighting, and we knew it's a game of runs, so we knew they were going to make a run at some point," Holle said. "I think (we were) just keeping our composure, being patient, letting the ball find the right person at the right time. Two times that happened to be me and my teammates set me up great."

Holle was one of four players that Texas coach Vic Scheafer brought with him to the postgame press conference. None of the players was freshman point guard Madison Booker, the Big 12 Co-Player of the Year who led UT with her 17 points.

Gonzales sat on the podium after scoring 10 points and directing the Texas offense while Booker was benched for 13 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. Holle got invited to the press conference for the aforementioned reasons. Moore talked with the media after contributing 14 points, eight rebounds and her one assist.

Then there was Texas senior forward DeYona Gaston.

The winner of the Big 12 Sixth Player Award, Gaston came off the bench and played 27 minutes Monday. Much of her time was spent defending Kansas State center Ayoka Lee. A 6-foot-6 center, Lee scored a game-high 25 points but was limited to seven points after halftime.

"She is really hard to guard, and I give kudos to all my bigs today, Hadi (Faye), Taylor (Jones) and DeYona, because I wasn't down there doing it, but I know it was rough and it was hard to watch it from the outside," Moore said. "I am really extremely proud of them."

Gaston is four inches shorter than Lee, an All-American who scored an NCAA-record 61 points during a 2022 game against Oklahoma. When asked about defending Lee, Gaston said, "She is a tough player."

"It's pretty tough trying to bang with her the whole game, but I tried to stay calm and make sure I could push her up the lane a little bit," Gaston said. "When she's up a little bit higher then it's kind of harder for her to score. So, I just try to try my best and make sure I'm going hard."

Texas will return to the T-Mobile Center on Tuesday night to battle Iowa State, which recorded an 85-68 beating of Oklahoma in the semifinal round. The matchup will occur one year after Iowa State upended Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. Texas eliminated Iowa State from the conference tournament in 2021 and 2022.

"This is now year four we've been coming here and I'm going to have to play Iowa State again," Schaefer said. "I've played them every year I've been here."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas beats Kansas State to advance to Big 12 Championship Game