Senior guard Rori Harmon has trouble sitting still. She’s not the lie-down-on-a-Sunday-afternoon type of person.
When Harmon tore her ACL last season, she spent many hours of her time sitting at the free throw line, alone, barely able to lift the tip of her toes. The gym was empty, besides herself and her thoughts.
She didn’t know what lay ahead.
Leading No. 2 South Carolina 64–62, Harmon was sent to the free throw line to snap the Gamecocks’ 57-game conference win streak. Yet to score from the line in the game, all those memories of hours spent in the gym working at the free throw stripe brought in some confidence.
“I heavily focused on shooting my free throws during that time,” Harmon said. “I trust myself to knock them down at the end of the day.”
Swish. And Swish.
No. 4 Texas won its 24th game of the year and 10th in the SEC, taking down No. 2 South Carolina 66–62. Even though Harmon’s clutchness iced the game, sophomore guard Madison Booker was the star.
Booker led all players with 20 points and 11 rebounds. She went 6–7 at the charity stripe and 7–22 from the field. Her biggest moment of the night came on a right handed layup to put Texas up 60–55. Even when she fell on the contact, her emotions under a loud, sold-out Moody Center were special, as she laughed and threw a Hook ‘Em hand sign to the TV camera.
“I don’t even know what I was thinking there,” Booker chuckled. “Have fun out there, you know? Let loose. Not too much. But I think, you know, have fun out there.”
Texas head coach Vic Schaefer was also having fun. As Texas led by two points with 26 seconds left, Schaefer told his players he “wouldn’t have it any other way.” As much as the man loves to win, he loves his job even more.
“It’s why I do what I do,” Schaefer said. “It’s why you get into coaching. To have these moments, these games, why they came to Texas. You know, Madison, I think we, she and I talked about,
‘Hey, this is why you came to Texas’. This is why I came, it’s why Rori, that’s why we all came here, to be in these types of games.”
Schaefer loves a good crowd. To him, that’s what it’s all about. Thanks to the support of the Texas faithful, in this case, a sold-out Texas faithful, Texas women’s basketball is undefeated at the Moody Center at 13–0. With only two losses in the season and taking down the defending national champions, Schaefer is filled with content.
“There’s not enough words or time to express how proud I am of these kids,” Schaefer said. “And I just thought these kids did it. They deserved it. They earned it, and again, against a really, obviously a great team. And so I’m proud of them.”
