Five thousand Central Texas students will flock to Frank Erwin Center on Wednesday to watch No. 11 Texas (1-0) face Northwestern State (1-1). The 11 a.m. game marks the fourth annual 40 Acres Field Trip.

“We call it the scream game because [the kids] scream for the entire game,” head coach Karen Aston said. “Our players love it, and I think the young ones like watching our team play.”

Aston is excited to see how her team will play with the early start time. The Longhorns play 11 games this year at 2 p.m. or earlier, including matchups against No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Baylor and No. 15 Stanford.

“I actually think this is a really good game because we can look forward to prepping for a game like this on a Saturday or Sunday,” Aston said. “That obviously means a lot when you get into Big 12 play.”

The Longhorns are coming off a 90-53 victory over UTSA in which six players scored in double figures. Despite the impressive showing, Aston still said her team has room for improvement.

“I like where we are right now,” Aston said. “But I do think we’re in a place where we can grow.”

Aston said she was impressed with how her team balanced its inside and outside attacks. The Longhorns made nine three-pointers but still managed to feed the ball inside. Aston said Texas struggled in previous years to find offensive balance.

“There have been times in the past where we knew we had an advantage in the paint, and we just try to shove it in there and make bad decisions,” Aston said.

Texas should again have an advantage in the paint. Northwestern State’s tallest player stands at 6 feet 2 inches, while Texas centers Imani Boyette and Kelsey Lang are 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-5, respectively.

Aston said she hopes her players continue to balance outside shooting and passing it inside.

“There just comes a time when you have to decide that the big girls haven’t touched it in a while,” Aston said. “But I definitely don’t want to get in a situation where we’re forcing the ball inside.”