The Texas Longhorns are headed to Portland, Oregon for the next round of the NCAA tournament after defeating Alabama 65-54. Yet, if the Longhorns have dreams of winning a national championship, it will take a much cleaner performance than the one displayed against the Crimson Tide.
Besides junior forward Aaliyah Moore and freshman forward Madison Booker, no Longhorn shot above 50% from the field. What earned Texas its 18th Sweet 16 appearance in school history was the suffocating defense the Longhorns played. 11 blocks, nine steals and a rebound margin of plus 10 is what made the difference against Alabama. Texas held the Crimson Tide offense to 20 points below their regular season average.
“They’ve averaged 76 points a game in the SEC and our kids went out today and really played so hard defensively,” head coach Vic Schaefer said.
Coming out of the half, Texas kept their foot on the gas pedal, stopping Alabama three times in a row while also going on a 6-0 run forcing head coach Kristi Curry to call a timeout only 1:25 into the third quarter.
“I just think they’re so big and physical, you can’t get to the free throw line,” Curry said.
Curry also mentioned how one of the elite pieces of this Texas team is the size the Longhorns have at its disposal. This includes senior forward Taylor Jones, who finished with 5 points. But her impact came on the defensive end, pulling down eight rebounds, tallying one steal and four blocks, two of which erupted the sound of the nearly 10 thousand fans at the Moody Center.
The play of senior guard Shay Holle and graduate guard Shaylee Gonzales may not have translated to the stat sheet, but Schaefer is indifferent to their offensive output when they lock down their opponents.
“They went combined today, two for 12,” Schaefer said. “It’s not the first time it’s happened, but they lock up everybody that we throw at them defensively.”
A key piece has been missing nearly all season for the Longhorns as junior guard Rori Harmon tore her ACL before the start of conference play, yet Schaefer reflects on that moment and displays intense respect for the duo and their tenacity.
“When Rori (Harmon) went down, we went from being pretty athletic on the perimeter, not being very athletic, but you better not tell those two, because they don’t play that way,” Schaefer said.
What Schaefer won’t be happy about is the amount of missed opportunities at points the Longhorns left on the court. In the third quarter, Texas ran into offensive miscues like missing play calls, not running the offense efficiently and missing wide-open layups. In one particular instance, Moore stole the ball, barreled down the court and even though no Alabama player was remotely near her, the ball clanked off the rim causing a collective sigh of frustration from those in attendance.
“Certainly we missed a ton of layups and bunnies throughout the course of the game,” Schaefer said.
The level of competition only increases in difficulty from here on out, and despite not knowing its next opponent yet, the objective is clear. Four more wins will put the Longhorns at the top of the women’s basketball mountain.
