No. 5 Texas women’s basketball took down Arkansas 56-90 in front of a loud crowd in the team’s first Southeastern Conference home game.
The official attendance was 8,113 — the seventh largest in women’s basketball history at the Moody Center. The Longhorns won by 34 points, but head coach Vic Schaefer wasn’t happy with how his team played. Schaefer thought his team struggled offensively and did not like that the Razorbacks were only down 12 points with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
“There’s a standard that we all try to live up to, and I think we’re all trying to chase perfection,” Schaefer said. “Whether that’s attainable or not. It’s probably not, but still, we’re going to chase it.”
Uncharacteristically, sophomore forward Madison Booker only scored three points. The SEC Preseason Player of the Year normally averages just under 16 points per game. But her teammates picked up the slack, as six Texas players scored in the double digits, treating fans to a display of Longhorn depth.
Three of the six were Texas’ highly ranked freshmen group of guard Jordan Lee, forward Justice Carlton and guard Bryanna Preston, who scored 13, 15 and 11 points, respectively. Senior guard Rori Harmon put up 12 points and made history making over 600 career assists. Junior center Kyla Oldacre filled in for senior forward Taylor Jones, who sat out the game, scoring ten points.
Senior forward Aaliyah Moore put up her first double-double of the season, with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Previously, Schaefer has said if Moore gets going, the Longhorns are a different team. And today, she gave fans a taste of what could be in store for the rest of conference play this season.
Moore has struggled with injuries in the past, making this the first season she’s started fully healthy. Despite the lingering tendonitis in her knee, she led the Longhorns in scoring and rebounds.
“It’s just been every day, whether I can give 20 (percent), I can give 80, I can give 50, just giving what I can to my teammates and doing the best that I can,” Moore said. “And I knew eventually, the work I was putting in … would pay off.”
Texas improved their rebounding after only having 28 against Oklahoma’s 44 last Thursday. Today, the Longhorns snagged 46. The team worked hard in practice to remedy this. Moore explained if a player didn’t box out another player during a rebound drill, Schaefer told them to run up the stairs of the Moody Center.
“So, eventually, you learn your lesson,” Moore said, laughing. “Because you want to stop running stairs.”
As conference play continues, Schaefer hopes to keep improving and to get more of his players going. Texas will look to continue its SEC win streak when they take on Alabama at home on Thursday at 7 p.m.
