The Texas Longhorns hit the road this Saturday to face the TCU Horned Frogs in their final match-up as Big 12 conference rivals. This game was a tale of two halves for the Longhorns in which Texas went from leading by only three at the half to winning by 22.
Although the Longhorns played drastically different basketball in each half, one constant was the pressure defense Head Coach Vic Schaefer is known for applying. In the second quarter, Texas forced two consecutive five-second violations, adding two turnovers to TCU’s tally. In the second half, the Longhorns played fluid and elite, switching defense on a very active off-ball TCU squad. In total, Texas forced 19 turnovers and held the Horned Frogs to a season-low 43 points.
“The second half, I thought they answered the bell. We obviously didn’t play very good the first half on offense,” Schaefer said.
Offensively, Texas’ shooting from the field was night and day. Before the break, the Longhorns shot just 33% from the field and Amina Muhammad led the team with six points. In the second half, the Longhorns nearly doubled their offensive output, raising their shooting percentage to 60%, and senior guard Shay Holle led the team with 12 points in the second half. Schaefer couldn’t stop raving about how much Holle means to this team.
“Shay Holly, all we’ve done with her is win,” Schaefer said. “She’s worked her tail off over the course of her career to be the player that she is.”
Despite Texas playing great first-half defense, the offense sputtered in the second quarter, especially toward the end of the half. TCU ended the half on a 9-0 run, clawing itself back into the game after not scoring until the 7:20 mark in the quarter. The Longhorns went into the break with a very slim lead of 23-20. Schaefer discussed what makes the Horned Frogs so dangerous and how their points can come quickly.
“They’re a hard group, if you don’t guard them perfectly every possession, somebody’s going to get a ‘horse’ shot,” Schaefer said. “You do not want to play TCU in ‘horse’, I promise you.”
In the third quarter, freshman point guard Madison Booker left the game and headed to the trainer’s room, leaving Texas without one of its main focal points on offense. However, it was the true freshman guard Gisella Maul who made play after play to secure the win for the Longhorns. Schaefer praised Maul for her play through adversity including an ACL injury.
“Gisella Maul ain’t coming out of the game, she was doing too many things to help us win,” Schaefer said. “She was making winning plays.”
The Longhorns now sit third in the conference and will be back on the road to take on the Houston Cougars on Wednesday.
