In Sunday’s postgame press conference following the Red River Rivalry win over Oklahoma, head coach Vic Schaefer said he couldn’t remember the last time his team had lost at Moody Center.
But one of his players did.
Star junior forward Madison Booker had made that truth clear to reporters earlier on: it was during her freshman year — Jan. 24, 2024, to be exact — when the Sooners outlasted the Longhorns, 91-87. Booker totaled 29 points that night to lead all scorers, though she still left the building in defeat.
It is safe to say she did not want that feeling of heartbreak to resurface.
“We want to protect our home court advantage,” Booker said postgame. “Just protect Moody. … I don’t think we wanted it to happen again. I think we wanted it to be a different outcome this time at home against OU.”
And it was. Schaefer’s team used a dominant first half to best the then-No. 10 Sooners, 78-70, Booker getting her revenge and the Longhorns earning their 38th consecutive victory at Moody.
This home winning streak, the longest active in the nation, has been established over the course of three separate years, rooted in the recent longevity of Texas’ success. Yet, in Southeastern Conference fashion, home success has also been dependent on the crowds packing the seats to establish Moody as the host of one of women’s basketball’s best home courts.
With the Oklahoma game, the Longhorns have now reached an attendance of over 10,000 in three of the four SEC contests at Moody in the past month, per Texas Athletics. Sunday’s memorable spectacle began with College GameDay pregame and remained through Schaefer’s speech from the court to attendees after the win, in which he praised fans for their ongoing support of his team.
The environment — defined by a national television broadcast, state-of-the-art setting and collection of crowd roars that made it seem as if the arena itself had jumped — stood out to the point that Oklahoma head coach Jennie Baranczyk acknowledged it postgame, stating she “thought it was great for women’s basketball.”
Schaefer has repeatedly emphasized the vital role that the fanbase plays in his program-building effort at Texas. Days ago, he mentioned the clear strides that his team has made in rallying support after moving from the Frank Erwin Center to Moody in 2022.
“Six years ago, when we got here, 1,500, 2,000 people in ‘The Drum,’ that place was like playing in the Grand Canyon,” Schaefer said last Friday. “I think we had 1,100 season ticket holders at the time. Six years later, here we are. We’re sold out. 6,500 season ticket holders.”
A fanbase supplements the on-court success of a program — one struggles to work without the other. Sunday’s showing accurately exemplified what it looks like when they simultaneously work together.
“How can you not want to go out there and play your guts out in front of that crowd?” Schaefer said postgame. “It is amazing to have that many people here, supporting these kids.”
While the Red River Rivalry proved to be a test that the Longhorns and their crowd passed, the journey does not stop there. Moody Center still has four regular-season women’s basketball games to host, plus potential for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Next up on the slate is a rematch with one of the two conference foes that have conquered Texas in 40 minutes this season: the No. 5-ranked LSU Tigers.
“We’ll be ready,” Schaefer said postgame about his team.
Moody Center sure will be, too.
