Austin Tx—–The Lady Longhorns are headed to the Sweet 16.
No.1 Texas had the Moody center rocking on Monday afternoon when they defeated No. 8 Illinois 65-48, advancing to the third round of the NCAA tournament.
The two teams met for the first time in 25 years as the Texas punches packed the most power in the bout to decide which team would advance to the round of 16. Sophomore guard Madison Booker led the way for the Burnt Orange with 20 points and six rebounds, on fifty percent shooting. Junior guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda had a career day with 19 points, six rebounds and a block while shooting an efficient 70% from the field.
Mwenentanda was asked about her performance and she said she did what she always does and joked about potentially getting some help from the cardinal mistake made by teams while watching film.
“I play with a lot of confidence. I was aggressive and I took advantage of them ignoring me on scout. I just went out there and had fun.”
When asked if she was afraid or nervous with the lights being shined so brightly on the NCAA stage, she responded with confidence and clarity.
“I’m never scared. I’ve been ready for this moment since freshman year, day one of training camp… It’s just my teammates having the trust in me and me having the trust in myself. I’m not scared, I’m quite excited.”
Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said the junior from South Dakota’s play was pivotal.
“ ‘Jak’ [had] a career day. I thought when ‘Jak’ came in, things really changed for us.”
The first quarter was as competitive as the game got, featuring both teams applying pressure, with Texas eventually settling into a 16-12 lead to end the period.
Mwenentanda led the surge for the Longhorns in the second quarter by scoring 9 of her team’s 18 points. Additionally, the Longhorns held Illinois to six points, on 3-10 shooting. Texas took a 34-18 into halftime.
Booker led the way in the third for Texas, scoring 10 of the 19 Longhorn points posted in the period.
Freshman forward Berry Wallace tried to rally her team by scoring five of her 12 total points but, anytime the Illini tried to get something going, the Longhorns had an answer. The Longhorns jumped out to a 53-30 lead to enter the final period.
The Longhorns pumped the brakes a bit in the fourth but they did just enough to maintain the lead and get the win. Though they were outscored 18-12 in the period, they held Illinois to 38% overall shooting.
Senior forward Adalia McKenzie and senior guard Genesis Bryant combined for 13 of their team’s 18 fourth-quarter points, with McKenzie finishing with a game-high 13 points, while Bryant added eight in the losing effort.
The Fighting Illini finish the season with a 22-10 record, while the Longhorns improve to 33-3 and will face Tennessee (25-9) on Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama. The Longhorns last played the Vols in Austin on Jan. 23 and they squeaked out the 80-76 conference win. The stakes will be higher this time, as the winner will go on to the Elite Eight.
According to Booker, the Lady Longhorns are aware of the challenge ahead and they are primed and ready.
“It’s really hard to beat a team twice. But, I think we look at what we did well against Tennessee and at what we did [poorly,] and we just try to [play to] our strengths… I think if we get into that game like we did today… play team defense, poised and be ourselves, then we’ll be okay.”
Coach Schaefer echoed these sentiments and expressed his eagerness to head to the Deep South on Saturday.
“On to the next one, I’m excited to take this team to Birmingham!”
