After losing to No. 2 South Carolina 67-50 in its first Southeastern Conference loss of the year, No. 7 Texas got its get back against the Auburn Tigers, winning 74-57.
Texas head coach Vic Schaefer and Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris have quite a history. The two coaches were assistants during the Texas A&M Aggies championship run in 2011. Then, when Schaefer got the head coaching job in 2012 with Mississippi State, Harris followed as an assistant. Together, they went to two final four trips in 2017 and 2019.
The journey continued as Harris again followed Schaefer to the Forty Acres, where the two made an Elite Eight run in their first year in the program in 2021. After that year, Harris got the job at Auburn, where she has been for the past four years and taken the Tigers to one NCAA tournament appearance.
Heading into the night, Auburn was winless in the SEC, losing the first four SEC games. Texas eyed to keep that streak going.
The Longhorns started off hot, taking a nine point lead at the end of the first quarter, and by the end of the half, Texas more than doubled its lead, going back to the locker room up 44-23.
Sophomore forward Madison Booker was catching fire all night long, logging 17 points by halftime on 5-6 shooting and a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. It wasn’t until the final three seconds of the first half when Texas, as a unit, missed its first free throw, going 13-13 before senior guard Rori Harmon missed one at the line.
Texas rode the hot hand in Auburn, large thanks to the efforts of Booker, Harmon and senior forward Taylor Jones. Together, the three starters tied Auburn’s total score of 57 points and largely contributed to Texas’ total of 74.
Harmon also led the team in assists, totaling 6 dishes to her box score. Harmon is currently second on the all-time assist leaderboard with 616 on her career.
For Auburn, senior forward DeYona Gaston and senior guard Mar’shaun Bostic both scored 18 points a piece as the only tigers to touch double-digit scoring.
Gaston, who just last year was the Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year for Texas, has been having a solid season for Auburn women’s basketball. The former Longhorn is averaging a team high of 22.1 points a game and also leading the Tigers in blocks on the year with 22.
Texas, now holding a 17-2 record, will take a break from SEC play and travel to Newark, New Jersey to take on No. 8 Maryland.
