Texas women’s basketball head coach Vic Schaefer brings toughness to the team. Returning to his alma mater for the first time since 2021, Schaefer’s No. 5 Longhorns didn’t back down.
In a 70–50 victory over Texas A&M, Texas started the game strong.
“We did come out, punching it out,” senior guard Rori Harmon said. “I’m so happy about that because I feel like sometimes lately we haven’t been.”
It’s been a rough couple of games for the Longhorns. With senior forward Aaliyah Moore out indefinitely with a knee injury, the Longhorns have only beaten their last two opponents, both unranked, by a combined 12 points.
But that was not the case in College Station, and it was evident early.
Texas jumped out to a 22–12 lead to end the first quarter and extended their lead to 17 by the half.
“Texas is deliberate on offense, they’re stingy on defense,” Texas A&M head coach Joni Taylor said. “They don’t beat themselves.”
Sophomore forward Madison Booker led the Longhorns in points with 17. The Ridgeland, Mississippi, native dished five assists and grabbed her fourth double-double of the year with 13 rebounds. Booker is now just 34 points away from 1,000 as a Longhorn.
“Obviously, Booker just really embraced being uncomfortable,” Schaefer said. “Having to do what she did a year ago, and then she embraced it and turned out to be really good at it.”
The Longhorns are playing some of the best defense in the country. Texas ranks fourth in the NCAA for opponent points per 100 possessions, gives up the third most points in the Southeastern Conference and gets scored on no less than any team in its conference as well. Against the Aggies, the Longhorn defense shined with points off turnovers, outshooting Texas A&M 16–4 and forcing the ball over 11 times.
“When you’re just playing someone who’s that good in so many different areas, you can’t make those types of mistakes,” Taylor said.
Now, Texas nears its toughest stretch of the year, having to play four ranked teams in the upcoming two weeks. Playing away from its home turf on Feb. 13, Texas will challenge No. 12 Kentucky.
No. 23 Vanderbilt, No. 2 South Carolina and No. 7 LSU will all travel to the Moody Center.
The next two weeks will challenge Schaefer and his Longhorns to play their best basketball. Sitting in third place in the SEC with eight wins and a loss, the next four games will show Longhorns fans how ready this squad is for the madness, now just a month away.
“If you don’t show up in this league every single day with a tremendous amount of fight, you don’t give yourself a chance,” Taylor said.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.