As white and burnt orange confetti fluttered down over the Moody Center court, the Texas women’s basketball players and coaches huddled together with quite a bit to celebrate.
The Longhorns won their last home game, became co-regular season Southeastern Conference champions, defeated Florida 72–46 and celebrated senior day all while boasting the No. 1 ranking in the country.
Despite a slightly slow start to the first quarter, once the Longhorns got the lead, it was impossible to slow them down. A crowd of over 10,000 watched and cheered as junior center Kyla Oldacre logged a team-high 18 points with sophomore forward Madison Booker close behind with 14.
While the seniors being honored — guards Rori Harmon and Shay Holle and forwards Taylor Jones and Aaliyah Moore — might not have topped the stat sheet, their impact was nonetheless felt, both in today’s game and in their Texas careers.
“Especially with how college basketball is, being able to be with them for four years and be — with Taylor for three — that’s not super common anymore, and I think it’s really special,” Holle said. “And part of the reason why we’re here today (as) SEC champs.”
Holle joined the program in head coach Vic Schaefer’s maiden season at Texas, while Moore and Harmon joined the year after. Jones transferred from Oregon State in 2022.
“We’re forever grateful,” Vic Schaefer said in a video dedicated to the seniors. “We’re forever impacted by your time here with us, in this program here at the University of Texas. So from us to you, thank you, we love you, we know you’re going to be great.”
The program celebrated the four seniors in a post-game ceremony that featured videos from the seniors’ families as players shared emotional hugs with Schaefer in the middle of the court. Later, the coaches and team got to cut down a piece of the net as a souvenir for their 29–2 regular season, in which they went without losing at home.
With the regular season done, the SEC Tournament is just around the corner. The team congregated under the big screen to watch as SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey flipped a coin to decide the No. 1 seed. It was between South Carolina and Texas, who tied with a 15–1 conference record, and the Gamecocks won the toss and secured the top seed. Texas will sit at No. 2 and will start play on Friday, March 7.
“We have a three-game tournament and a six-game tournament in front of us,” Schaefer said. “And the gauntlet that this group’s been through, there’s not going to be anything that they haven’t seen … They’re going to show up and play, and it’s going to be important, and they’re not going to back down from anybody.”
The Longhorns will head to Greenville, South Carolina for the tournament from March 5-9, looking for a chance to make history and take home the SEC title during their first year in the conference.
