The Texas Longhorns’ tenacious defense was too much for the star-studded TCU Horned Frogs on Monday night, toppling their Big 12 and in-state foe, 58-47. The win puts the No. 1 seed Longhorns into the Final Four for the first time in over two decades.
Texas Makes History with Elite Eight Win Over TCU
From the opening tip, the full-court pressure was a massive migraine for the Horned Frogs. TCU could not get the ball moving, score the basketball or even inbound the ball. There were two five-second calls on TCU, a 10-second backcourt violation and a shot clock violation.
In the first quarter, TCU was held to nine points—one of the lowest single-quarter totals the Horned Frogs have posted all season. The Longhorns forced eight turnovers in the first quarter alone.
Hailey Van Lith, who has played more tournament games than any other woman in the history of women’s college basketball, did not make a shot in the first quarter.
The Longhorns did not let up the relentless defensive pressure.
As the game went on, TCU started to find a rhythm, but nothing came easy. Ex-Longhorn Sedona Price was rendered obsolete in the first half. She did not score and couldn’t even get shots up at the basket.
Though the clamps were put down on the Horned Frogs, they trailed by just two points at halftime after Van Lith scored five points in the last 70 seconds before halftime.
MORE: Hailey Van Lith Only Player to Lead 3 Different Teams to Elite Eight
Offense was hard to come by in the first half for both teams—except for one player: Rori Harmon, who scored 11 of her team’s 23 points.
In the second half, Texas superstar Madison Booker didn’t do much offensively early, scoring only four points—but the two-time conference player of the year showed why she’s earned that honor.
Booker scored 14 points in the second half and was lethal from the midrange.
While the offense picked up in the second half for Texas, the defense stayed tenacious.
TCU never scored more than 14 points in a quarter and ended the game with 47 points—their lowest output all season.
This win for Texas comes with great emotion and relief. Vic Schaefer was emotional on the sideline as the clock struck 0:00, having accomplished what Texas hadn’t in its last three trips to the Elite Eight.
In four of the last five years, the Longhorns had reached the Elite Eight but couldn’t get over the hump—until now.
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Now, Texas has a chance to win a championship for the first time since the 1985-86 season, when the Longhorns went 34-0.
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