With just under 15 seconds left in the championship game of the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas, No. 4 Texas and No. 2 South Carolina were tied at 64. After a Gamecocks free throw, graduate point guard Rori Harmon brought the ball up the court.
Although the Longhorns are usually fast in transition, Harmon slowed the pace, dribbling near the top of the key and waiting for the right moment to attack. With about five seconds remaining, she drove left and went up for a mid-range jumper.
And bam. The Texas bench erupted. Harmon buried the game-winner, lifting Texas to a 66-64 victory against the Gamecocks in a rematch of April’s Final Four meeting.
“One is just keeping my composure and that us five on the court are keeping our composure, which I feel we did a really good job doing that,” Harmon said. “I just read the vibe and flow of the game. I’ll get to my spots when I need to. But I have two really good guards, as you can tell. But (head coach Vic Schaefer) called the play at the end of the game, and I’ve been in this moment before, so it felt good coming out of my hands.”
Harmon was named the tournament’s most valuable player, a fitting title for one of the most important pieces of the program, and not just on this roster, but the entire Vic Schaefer era.
Harmon arrived at Texas in Schaefer’s second season, after he had already tried recruiting her when he was the head coach at Mississippi State. She has watched and helped the program’s rise from a good one to a national contender, but it wasn’t without any hardships. Two years ago, she missed most of the season with an ACL injury. Now, in her final year, has made history.
Harmon not only hit the game-winner but also recorded nine assists and set the program’s all-time assists record. Her 777 career assists surpass Kamie Ethridge, a Longhorn legend from the Jody Conradt era.
“You can have all the size in the world, but if you ain’t got any guard play, we proved that tonight, you’ve got no chance,” Schaefer said. “She was that first brick in building a program. I’ve seen her in her good times and bad times. She continues to grow because she invests in her craft. She doesn’t show up five minutes before practice and leave when the horn sounds. She’s there an hour before, just like most of my team. That’s why she is who she is.”
The close final score reflected all 40 minutes of play. Texas and South Carolina were evenly matched across nearly every facet. The first and fourth quarters turned into shootouts, while the second and third shifted into defensive battles defined by turnovers and pressure on both ends.
Even though the teams appeared equal on paper, the Longhorns entered the matchup as a slight underdog. The Gamecocks have the record advantage, having won three out of the four previous matchups against Texas in 2025. The Longhorns were also shorthanded, missing freshman guard Aaliyah Crump, key bench player sophomore guard Bryanna Preston and senior guard Ashton Judd. That left just nine available players on the roster, which effectively became a seven-man rotation.
As a result, Harmon, junior forward Madison Booker and sophomore guard Jordan Lee each played nearly 80 minutes across two days, fighting fatigue on top of tired legs. It showed in the third quarter, when South Carolina outscored Texas 21-13 and took its first lead since the first quarter.
Faced with adversity, Texas didn’t panic. The Longhorns stayed composed, got aggressive on offense and fought until the end.
“Down south in Texas, we call that Texas Fight, and this group has got it,” Schaefer said.
