No. 1 Texas women’s basketball is set to take on former Big 12 foe No. 2 TCU in the Elite Eight Monday night in Birmingham for a chance to book a trip to Tampa, Florida for the Final Four.

The Longhorns will face a TCU team led by a familiar face, graduate guard Hailey Van Lith, who scored 26 points against Notre Dame and helped send her team to the Elite Eight. In her junior season at Louisville, Van Lith and the Cardinals came to the Moody Center and knocked the Longhorns out of the tournament in the second round 73–51, making it the only time during head coach Vic Schaefer’s tenure at Texas that the Longhorns haven’t gone to the Elite Eight.

While at Texas, Schaefer has made it to the last eight three times and has never made it past the round. For him, this round is the hardest, but he wants his team to stay grounded.

“There’s so much on the line, but you’ve got to just go play. You’ve got to relax. You’ve got to go play. It’s another game,” Schaefer said. “We all know what (the) ramifications are, but at the end of the day … you’re going to have to execute. TCU is no different.”

The Longhorns will have to find answers for a strong TCU team that relies heavily on a trio consisting of Van Lith, 6-foot-7 graduate center Sedona Prince and senior guard Madison Conner. Prince, a seasoned NCAA player who started her career at Texas in 2018, is a force in the post and will have to match up with senior forward Taylor Jones and junior center Kyla Oldacre. Conner has the most three-pointers in a season in TCU women’s basketball history and will be trouble for a Texas team that doesn’t shoot many threes.

Schaefer joked the game could be played in Corsicana, just southeast of Dallas, to save some money. Nonetheless, the matchup will show the strength of Texas college basketball. The two Lone Star State teams haven’t played each other since Texas took down the Horned Frogs twice last season when the Longhorns were still in the Big 12. Since then, the two teams have changed.

For Texas, senior guard Rori Harmon returned from an injury that prevented her from playing in the conference. TCU added Van Lith to their roster, as well as a healthier Prince.

But sophomore forward Madison Booker is excited for the challenge.

“I’m just ready to play. I’m ready to win,” Booker said. “I kind of look at athletics, because I think everybody’s great for a reason here. I think that’s why everybody’s on this team. Both teams are talented … I’m looking forward to it.”