No. 5 Texas women’s basketball traveled to Estero, Florida, to play a back-to-back-to-back style in-season tournament titled The Gulf Coast Showcase this past weekend, Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.
The Longhorns began the tournament on Friday with a matchup against New Mexico State. Texas has never lost to the Aggies, and this game was no exception. The 90-50 win had sophomore forward Madison Booker and fifth-year forward Taylor Jones’ fingerprints all over it. The pair scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, and senior guard Rori Harmon logged five assists.
Moving forward to game two, the semi-final, Texas pummeled Butler University 94-59 on Saturday, led by freshman forward Justice Carlton, who scored 30 points. The last Texas player to tally that many points was Harmon in 2022. She joined the list of five Longhorns who scored in the double digits, putting up 13 points against Butler.
“I’m not shocked at all. This is what I expected from her,” Harmon said of Carlton. “She is unguardable, untouchable. She can take anyone.”
The real challenge of the tournament came on Sunday night against former Big 12 opponent West Virginia University. It was a close game, and head coach Vic Schaefer said his team knew they were walking into a dog fight.
And a dog fight it was.
Texas, up by just one possession, had been ahead by double digits just over a minute earlier. It seemed to be clear as day that Texas would hoist the trophy in minutes.
But disaster struck.
Senior guard Rori Harmon took a shot to the face and Schaefer let the referee next to him know how he felt. The referee issued a technical foul to the Texas coach, his first of the year.
Within seconds, the momentum shifted to the Mountaineers, cutting the lead to just two.
With 7.2 seconds left in the final game of the Gulf Coast Showcase, the last 119 minutes and 52.8 seconds of basketball came down to one final play.
West Virginia came out of its final timeout ready to shock the horns, but Carlton had other plans. On the inbound, Carleton stole the ball and ran down the clock with a mere second left.
Game over.
Carleton looked behind her after the whistle, saw the bench and drove a high five into the right hand of senior forward Aaliyah Moore. The freshman, into the game for the fouled-out senior, was all smiles, much like the rest of her squad.
Texas was able to pull a 78-73 win out over the Mountaineers, thanks to the help of Moore. The forward has struggled with injuries in the past and is battling tendonitis in her knee right now but was able to score 20 points for the Longhorns.
“When she’s right, our team is way different. And we absolutely need that,” Schaefer said.
After a three-day spree of hooping, Texas women’s basketball was on top of the Gulf Coast Showcase podium after three consecutive wins. Booker earned a spot on the all-tournament team and Harmon was awarded the Gulf Coast Showcase Most Valuable Player award.
The Longhorns head to South Bend, Indiana on Thursday to face the University of Notre Dame at 6 p.m. CT.
