Two weeks ago, Texas women’s basketball was dominated out of the building by then-No. 5 Vanderbilt. Three days later, then-unranked Georgia Bulldogs upset the Commodores in Athens.
When No. 23 Georgia traveled to Austin for Texas’ final regular-season home conference game, fans expected a tight matchup, one that could have been extremely competitive.
But the Longhorns had other plans, dominating the Bulldogs 79-50 to earn their 27th win this season late Thursday night.
College basketball can be a weird game, and home court advantage clearly matters, as Thursday’s win marked the second-consecutive season in which the Longhorns have remained undefeated at home through the regular season.
“I’m really proud of our kids,” head coach Vic Schaefer said. “I thought we played really well tonight, especially in the first half. … (The) kids were special tonight. No question about it. Played really well, played really hard, and I thought we had great chemistry at times.”
Texas was the obvious favorite heading into the night, but the Bulldogs have proven that they are capable of beating ranked teams on the road. After the Longhorns opened up the game on an 8-0 run and forced an early Georgia timeout, it was never a tight battle again.
The Bulldogs entered the night averaging 75 points per game, but struggled against a near-perfect and suffocating Longhorns defense. Georgia could not take care of the ball, committing 24 turnovers while scoring its second-lowest point total of the season.
“What I really love about this team is that they’ve taken a little bit of ownership with their defense,” Schaefer said. “Rori has really stepped up in the locker room and gone, ‘Hey guys, … we need to be focused on holding people to 60 and under.’ That’s the standard at Texas. … So defensively, they’re trying to take a step in getting better.”
Despite an unusually late 9 p.m. tipoff, the energy never dipped at the Moody Center, on the floor or in the stands. The 10,000-plus in attendance made their presence known, especially during moments where they did not agree with the officiating
When junior forward Breya Cunningham got called for a personal foul in the third quarter, boos and profanities echoed in the arena — with all of the uproar, one would assume that it was a close game, but Texas was still up 30 points — but the fans didn’t care about what was on the video board.
Neither did Schaefer, who ripped off his jacket in frustration before receiving his second technical foul this season. To his players, it wasn’t a big deal. It was simply their coach advocating for his players.
“I mean, he’s fighting for his players,” graduate guard Rori Harmon said. “That’s just what you do. … I’m not mad, not frustrated. Okay, they shot some free throws for a technical. But that’s a coach who’s just fighting for his players, fighting for something that he believes.”
Though the final deficit was 29 points, Georgia actually outscored Texas by two in the second half. Cleaner shot selection and fewer turnovers could have made the offensive performance nearly flawless.
It wasn’t perfect basketball, but if the Longhorns can replicate the defensive intensity and offensive succinctness they displayed in the first half, the team will position itself well for a postseason run.
