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FORT WORTH, Texas — In mid-February, Texas women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer questioned if his team had heart. On Monday, he told the heavily pro-Longhorn crowd at Dickies Arena that his players were “Texas tough.”
After a two-decade drought ended last season, the Longhorns are going to the Final Four for the second year in a row.
No. 1 seed Texas continued what has been a dominant run to the national semifinals with a 77-41 victory over No. 2 seed Michigan. The 36-point margin tied the third-largest ever in the women’s Elite Eight.
The Longhorns have won 12 games in a row and now look to add a national championship to the SEC tournament title they won on March 8. They will face fellow No. 1 seed UCLA on Friday in Phoenix (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). No. 1 seeds UConn and South Carolina meet in the other semifinal.
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It is the second time the Final Four features the same teams in back-to-back years (the other was 1995 and 1996) and the fifth time all four No. 1 seeds have advanced to the women’s Final Four.
“I’m proud to be included in that group,” Schaefer mentioned. “There’s going to be four really elite teams with a bunch of really elite players and some great coaches.”
Last season, the Longhorns reached the national semifinals for the first time since 2003, a breakthrough for Schaefer, then in his fifth year in charge of the program. They are going back after dominating the Wolverines from start to finish in the Fort Worth Regional 3.
Junior Madison Booker led all scorers with 19 points and was named the regional’s most outstanding player. Sophomore Justice Carlton had 15 points, senior Kyla Oldacre added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and senior Rori Harmon contributed 7 points and an Elite Eight-record-tying 13 assists.
Texas outrebounded Michigan 49-32 and won in a blowout despite going just 3-of-19 from behind the arc.
“We have so many people who can do so many different things,” Harmon mentioned.
The Wolverines, who finish the season 28-7, shot just 23% from the field. Their three leading scorers this season — sophomores Olivia Olson, Syla Swords and Mila Holloway — were a combined 9-of-42 from the field.
“That’s a credit to the defense,” Swords mentioned. “It’s a credit to their length and physicality. We can’t just say we had an off day. I mean, Texas is known for their defense.”
Texas junior Madison Booker led all scorers with 19 points Monday en route to being named most outstanding player of the Fort Worth Regional 3. Elsa/Getty ImagesIt was Michigan’s second trip to the Elite Eight, and the Wolverines were excited to test themselves against the Longhorns after playing difficult nonconference and Big Ten schedules. But they never got going Monday.”We’ve been a team that has fought through everything this year,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico mentioned. “We’ve always been able to find that second gear. Tonight we couldn’t against Texas.”But nobody else has been able to do that, either, in this postseason. The Longhorns won their three SEC tournament games by an average of 19 points, and their four NCAA tournament games by an average of 35.5 points.Early this season, Texas made it clear it would be in the national championship picture again, getting two back-to-back statement wins over UCLA and South Carolina at the Players Era Championship in November.Texas surged to an 18-0 record before losing consecutive games to SEC rivals LSU and South Carolina on the road in mid-January.
The Longhorns then lost at Vanderbilt on Feb. 12, after which an irritated Schaefer called out his team.
“We have no heart,” Schaefer mentioned then. “We’re not tough. It’s probably the softest team I’ve had in years. It translates from practices … my fault. I’ll wear it. It stops now.”
“How they’ve responded is exactly what I thought they’d do. They have answered the bell every night, and I think that speaks volumes about who they are, what they’re about.”
Texas coach Vic Schaefer
The Longhorns have not lost since. Schaefer mentioned Booker was very vocal in practice the next day and the team’s mindset hasn’t wavered since.
“We never want to hear our head coach say that about the team he recruited because we’re so much better than that,” Booker mentioned. “I think after that game we kind of turned it around. I hope he sees we have heart now.”
Schaefer answered, “How they’ve responded is exactly what I thought they’d do. They have answered the bell every night, and I think that speaks volumes about who they are, what they’re about.”
Texas’ lone national championship came in 1986 when the Longhorns went 34-0. Now, they have a chance 40 years later to add a second.
Schaefer took Mississippi State to the national championship game in 2017 and 2018, falling to South Carolina and Notre Dame. He mentioned this Texas team might be the best he has ever coached.
“They really get it. I think that’s a way to put it,” Schaefer mentioned. They’re allowing me to really enjoy and have the pure joy of coaching.”
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