Birmingham, Ala. – The Texas Longhorns are heading back to the women’s Final Four for the first time since 2003.
In a dominant performance in the Elite Eight, the top-seeded Longhorns defeated No. 2 seed TCU, 58-47, on Monday night, securing their spot in Tampa for the national semifinals.
Madison Booker, named SEC Player of the Year, led Texas with 18 points and six rebounds, while Rori Harmon, making a comeback after missing most of the previous season due to a knee injury, added 13 points and five assists.
As the game wound down, Harmon paused to reflect, visibly emotional. “I was just thinking about my journey as a player,” she said.
“Coming back from an ACL injury in 10 months… it’s both physically and mentally challenging. To make it to the Final Four after all that – it’s amazing, and I’m proud of myself in that moment.”
This marks Texas’ fourth regional final appearance in the past five years, though they had fallen short in the previous three to South Carolina (2021), Stanford (2022), and NC State (2024).
Fifth-year senior Shay Holle, a key player throughout that stretch, was elated to finally break through and make it to the Final Four. “It’s a huge relief to finally pass the Elite Eight test,” she said. “I’m so proud of the way this team fought tonight.”
Texas’ defense was a key factor in the win. The Longhorns forced TCU into 21 turnovers while committing just eight themselves. Coach Vic Schaefer praised his team’s effort, saying, “Anybody who watched this game had to walk away thinking, ‘Wow, that team plays their hearts out.'”
The Longhorns’ defensive dominance continued from their Sweet 16 win over Tennessee, where they held the Lady Vols to just 37.9% shooting. “The work we put in during the summer and all those conditioning sessions – it’s all paying off,” Booker noted. “We’ve been through so much, but this is the kind of moment we push ourselves for.”
The Horned Frogs, who had never reached the Elite Eight before this year, finished their season with an impressive 34-4 record. TCU center Sedona Prince, who fouled out with 6:32 left in what was likely her final game, contributed four points and nine rebounds. Prince shared that playing against Texas, where she faced personal challenges early in her career before transferring, was a tough emotional experience.
TCU guard Hailey Van Lith also saw her collegiate career come to an end with a 17-point, eight-rebound performance.
Both Prince and Van Lith are expected to be selected in the upcoming WNBA draft.
The last time Texas reached the Final Four, Hall of Famer Jody Conradt was still at the helm, and the Longhorns fell to UConn in the national semifinals. Now, under Schaefer, Texas aims to add a second national championship to the one Conradt’s team won in 1986, capping an undefeated season.
Conradt was among the Texas fans in attendance at Legacy Arena, cheering on the Longhorns. “Coach Jody is the standard,” Harmon said, reflecting on the legendary coach’s influence. “She laid the foundation for us, and she’s always had that aura about her.”
Now 35-3, Texas has proven themselves in their first season in the SEC and will face South Carolina on Friday in the Final Four. The Gamecocks, who share the SEC regular-season title with Texas, are 4.5-point favorites, according to ESPN BET.
This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams this season, with each side winning one regular-season game before South Carolina triumphed in the SEC Tournament final.
Friday’s game will also be the first time since the 2017 national championship game that two SEC teams meet in the Final Four or beyond, when South Carolina defeated Mississippi State, coached by Schaefer, for the title.
This marks Schaefer’s third trip to the Final Four as a head coach, after guiding Mississippi State to the national championship game in 2018, where they lost to Notre Dame. Schaefer also served as an assistant coach on Texas A&M’s 2011 national championship-winning team.
With this achievement, Schaefer joins an exclusive group of five head coaches in NCAA women’s basketball history to lead multiple programs to the Final Four. He joins the ranks of Gary Blair (Arkansas and Texas A&M), Kim Mulkey (Baylor and LSU), Marianne Stanley (Old Dominion and Stanford), and C. Vivian Stringer (Cheyney, Iowa, and Rutgers).
Booker, who has known Schaefer since his Mississippi State days, praised her coach’s hard work and dedication. “He deserves this,” she said. “I’ve seen him put in the effort, and I’m thrilled to be part of it here at Texas.”
