Texas Longhorns end 22-year Final Four drought with win over TCU in Elite Eight

AUSTIN (KXAN) — For the first time since 2003, the Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team is headed to the Final Four.

Texas defeated TCU 58-47 Monday in the Elite Eight at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, to punch their ticket to Tampa, Florida, and another date with South Carolina on April 4. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT at Amalie Arena.

The Longhorns rallied at the end of the third quarter to turn a 36-33 lead into 42-33, capped by a Madison Booker bucket and foul shot to complete a 3-point play with 0:05 remaining. Jordan Lee hit a 3-pointer with 1:06 left to help build the momentum, and Texas closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to outscore the Horned Frogs 19-12.

With the win, the Longhorns broke the program record for wins in a season with 35, surpassing the undefeated 34-0 national championship team in 1985-86.

“These kids will play their guts out when challenged,” Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer said. “The good Lord has blessed me with some great kids.”

Despite 6-foot-7 post Sedona Prince fouling out with 6:32 left in the game, the Horned Frogs made a run. They cut the Texas lead to 53-47 with 2:42 left, but as she typically does, Booker came off a screen on an inbound play and knocked down a short corner jumper with 2:01 remaining to stop the rally. Rori Harmon put the dagger in TCU with a jumper to stretch the lead to 57-47 with a minute left.

Texas forced 21 turnovers and held Prince to four points on 1-of-4 shooting. Prince came into the game averaging 17.6 points per game. Hailey Van Lith led TCU with 17 points, 10 from the foul line. She was the only TCU player to score in double figures. The Longhorns held Van Lith to 3-of-14 shooting and the Horned Frogs to 12-for-43 overall for 28%.

“She’s a three-level scorer and a great basketball player, so we just tried to limit her touches.,” Harmon said of guarding Van Lith. “I couldn’t make any gambles or anything, so I just tried to stay with her and get the ball out of her hands.”

TCU was whistled 5-second inbound violations three times, one of the calling cards of the swarming Longhorns full-court defense they’re so good at playing.

“Our press was really critical. Even if we didn’t get a turnover, we made it hard for them to get it in,” Schaefer said. “When they got it, they had to try to figure out how to run some offense. We had them pushed out on the floor quite well.”

Despite being outrebounded 38-34, the Longhorns made up for it by taking care of the ball with eight turnovers. The last turnover was a shot clock violation as the team let time run off. Texas outscored TCU 24-8 in the paint and 17-6 off turnovers.

Texas shot 39% for the game, 24-for-61, with 14 assists.

Booker scored a game-high 18 points on 8-for-17 shooting with six rebounds and Harmon chipped in 13 points with five assists. Kyle Oldacre had nine points and five rebounds in 15 minutes on the floor, providing one of the offensive highlights at the 8:32 mark of the fourth quarter. She jumped into the passing lane to intercept the ball and then ran almost the entire length of the floor for a layup with Prince on her tail. Oldacre made the layup, drew a foul and then knocked down the foul shot to give Texas a 47-36 lead.

Booker said while it means a lot to the players that they finally broke through to a Final Four after making four Elite Eights in the last five seasons, the players really wanted it for Schaefer.

“If you were to follow him around, like a day in the life of Vic Schaefer, you’d be at the gym all day. You’d be watching film all day,” Booker said. “He’s put in the work. He’s not playing a minute right now, we are. You think of all the summer workouts and conditioning, and it’s paying off. We’ve been through everything, and these are the moments you work for. It’s all for this man right here, and I’m happy to do it for him.”

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