The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball enter the NCAA Tournament after an impressive season that included a conference tournament title and one of the best records in the country. That performance earned the Longhorns a No. 1 seed in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Texas finished Selection Sunday with a 31-3 overall record after winning the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. Their tournament run will begin at the Moody Center, where Texas will face the winner of the First Four matchup between the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks and the Missouri State Lady Bears.
Fans attending the opening weekend in Austin will also see the Oregon State Beavers women’s basketball square off against the Virginia Tech Hokies women’s basketball in another first-round contest at Moody Center.
The Longhorns hold the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament field (UConn is No. 1, UCLA No. 2), and they rank fourth in the NET. If Texas advances past the opening games in Austin, the program would remain in-state for the next stage of the tournament. Both the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds for their region are scheduled to take place in Fort Worth.
Texas has been nearly untouchable on its home floor this season. The Longhorns have yet to lose in Austin and carry an 18-0 record at Moody Center into the tournament. Head coach Vic Schaefer hopes that the advantage can help his team continue the postseason momentum it created during the conference tournament.
Longhorns vanquish #2 South Carolina (photo courtesy AP)
One of the biggest moments of that run came when Texas defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball 78-61 in Greenville. The victory was especially meaningful for Schaefer, marking his first postseason win against South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.
The Longhorns reached the Final Four last season, the deepest tournament run since Schaefer took over the program. Before arriving in Austin, he also guided the Mississippi State Bulldogs women’s basketball to consecutive national championship game appearances in 2017 and 2018.
Texas arrives in the NCAA Tournament riding an eight-game winning streak and playing with confidence. The most recent loss for the Longhorns came in mid-February against the Vanderbilt Commodores women’s basketball in Nashville. Vanderbilt secured an 86-70 victory behind a standout performance from guard Mikayla Blakes, who scored 34 points in the game.
Since that defeat, Texas has handled several ranked opponents with authority. The Longhorns survived a close contest against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball in Knoxville, winning by two points. They followed that result with convincing victories over the Georgia Bulldogs women’s basketball team and the Ole Miss Rebels women’s basketball team, winning by 29 and 17 points, respectively.
The tightest matchup during the winning streak came on the road against the Alabama Crimson Tide women’s basketball in Tuscaloosa, where Texas came away with a seven-point victory.
With a conference championship, a perfect home record, and momentum heading into the national tournament, Texas begins March play as one of the strongest teams in the field and a legitimate contender to make another deep postseason run.
