A goal from senior Hannah Higgins in the 24th minute combined with the third-straight shutout from freshman goalkeeper Abby Smith lifted Texas to a 1-0 victory over No. 22 Oklahoma State. It was the Longhorns' first win over a top-25 opponent since topping the fifth-ranked Cowgirls 1-0 on Oct. 22, 2010.

The victory also gave UT (6-6-1, 3-0-0 Big 12) its first 3-0-0 start in Big 12 Conference play since 2002, when the squad opened the year 9-0-0 in league action. It is also the first time the Longhorns have won three consecutive Big 12 contests since Oct. 10-17, 2010, when the team beat Baylor, Missouri and Iowa State.

Friday evening, after the teams battled for possession for the first seven minutes, Oklahoma State fired the initial shot of the contest at 7:40 on an attempt by Carson Michalowski. Smith made the stop.

The Cowgirls (10-4-1, 1-3-1 Big 12) had a golden opportunity to take an early lead at 10:47 when Michalowski received a penalty kick, but the attempt hit off the cross bar. Michalowski followed with another shot, but Smith tallied another save.

Sophomore forward Allison Smith took the first shot for Texas at 19:03, but missed wide. Four minutes later, the Longhorns took the lead on the Higgins goal at 23:32. Senior Kristin Cummins set up the shot with a touch pass back to a streaking Higgins, who sent the ball into the lower left corner of the net.

Texas continued to apply pressure in the offensive end with consecutive corner kicks by sophomore Sharis Lachappelle and junior Gabby Zarnegar in the 29th and 30th minutes. Abby Smith also entered into the offensive mix, firing high at 30:59 off a free kick.

In the final 10 minutes of the half, OSU's Taylor Mathews missed high at 36:46 and UT's Lachappelle took the final attempt at 44:02, but Cowgirl goalkeeper Adrianna Franch recorded the stop.

UT opened the second half applying pressure, taking three shots within the first eight minutes. Freshman midfielder Lindsey Meyer recorded two attempts, but both went wide. Higgins took a shot at 52:35, but Franch came up with another save.

Oklahoma State had chances in the 54th and 56th minutes with corner kicks from Mathews. Megan Marchesano and Kelsey Bass both took shots off the corners, but the first was blocked and Abby Smith saved the latter.

The Cowgirls nearly tied the match in the 62nd minute as Abby Smith came out to play the ball and it bounced over her head. Marchesano ran past Smith and sent the loose ball to the back of the net, but was called offside, keeping the UT lead at 1-0.

OSU fired another shot, this one from Mathews, at 63:13, but it missed wide. Neither team recorded another attempt until 81:57 when Texas' Lachappelle tried to head one in but sent it high. Lachappelle took the last shot of the match two minutes later and it sailed high again as Texas sealed the victory.

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