Fatigue is a normal part of a college basketball season. Especially after two hard-fought battles with top-three teams.
Texas women’s basketball returned to Moody Center on Sunday afternoon following its victories over No. 3 UCLA and No. 2 South Carolina at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas, and started sluggish in its 81-63 win over the University of Pennsylvania Quakers.
Head coach Vic Schaefer said the poor execution began even before the team took the court in front of 8,692 fans. The Longhorns got back to Austin on Friday and “weren’t real focused” at practice on Saturday, before being “absolutely horrible” at shootaround on Sunday morning.
“What you see in those two things leading up is what you get in the game,” Schaefer said.
The lack of focus and execution was seen as Texas trailed Penn, 12-6, with 2:48 remaining in the first quarter, beginning two-of-15 from the field. The Quakers started the game defensively as well as they could have, their head coach, Mike McLaughlin, claimed.
Penn forced four turnovers off of Texas, and the Longhorns were whistled for four personal fouls in the opening period. Schaefer himself was assessed a technical foul at the 1:24 mark after needing to be held back from a referee and was accompanied to the bench.
Postgame, Schaefer said the actions leading to his technical were in reaction to a few calls he believed the officials missed against senior center Kyla Oldacre. But it was also in reaction to the frustration of his team’s preparation and start.
“At that point, I was probably more upset with my own team than I was with the referees, but it boiled out into that particular moment,” Schaefer said. “I’m quite embarrassed to be honest with you.”
Six made free throws by Penn, and the poor offensive play translated into a four-point Texas disadvantage heading into the second quarter. However, the Longhorns quickly turned around the tide of the game in the back portion of the first half.
Schaefer fielded the same five players for the entirety of the quarter: Oldacre, graduate guard Rori Harmon, sophomore guard Jordan Lee, junior forward Madison Booker and sophomore forward Justice Carlton. Down three points with 8:34 remaining in the half, the Longhorns went on an 18-0 run in just over a four-minute span, getting point contributions from all five on the court. Texas shot 85.7% from the field over the second quarter.
Yet, the second half brought the Longhorns back into modest territory. Texas and Penn tied the third quarter at 18 points before Texas slightly extended its lead to finish on top by 18. In the end, the team shot 43.8% from the field and committed 11 turnovers, including an uncharacteristic five from Harmon.
“I think we just had, call it a hangover, or whatever you want to call it, from Las Vegas,” Schaefer said. “But again, that’s my job, just to get them ready and get them to play better. And we didn’t have it today.”
Texas now looks ahead to a ranked matchup with No. 12 North Carolina on Thursday in Moody Center. The Longhorns can be expected to come in as the No. 1 or 2 team in the nation through Monday’s Week 5 AP Poll due to the Thanksgiving week they had. Still, their head coach made clear there is much left to be desired from his squad.
“We’re still a long way from a finished product,” Schaefer said.
