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How 'Texas tough' Longhorns can win Women's Final Four
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- How 'Texas tough' Longhorns can win Women's Final Four
The Arizona Republic unanimously predicted that undefeated UConn would return to its second consecutive national championship appearance for title No. 13 at the Women's Final Four in Phoenix.
But don't mess with Texas, the NCAA Tournament's No. 3 overall seed and Regional 3 champion playing for its first national title in 40 years.
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The Longhorns have lassoed 12 straight wins. Their "Texas tough" identity is on-ball, full-court pressure, led by star junior forward Madison Booker , senior point guard Rori Harmon and sophomore Jordan Lee. Texas has much length in the frontcourt and perimeter (rotation bigs include the 6-foot-4 Breya Cunningham and 6-foot-6 Kyla Oldacre, wings in 6-foot-1 Justice Carlton and 6-foot-1 Booker). Sixth-year Texas coach Vic Shaefer is playing for his first title in his fourth Final Four appearance (he led Mississippi State there in 2017 and 2018).
"I feel like our team is complete," Booker said. "You have great point guards. You have great shooters around the arc. You have people that can get downhill. You have people that can hit midrange shots. You have great floor players. I think the team is balanced. It's so hard to stop."
Here are some more facts that you might not know about Texas.
Texas pushed Elite 8 margin of victory record
SEC champion Texas has a 142-point differential over opponents during this NCAA Tournament, the most by a team from that conference entering the Final Four, holding its past four opponents to 45.9 points per game. Texas annihilated No. 2 seed Michigan by 36, the third-largest margin of victory in Elite Eight history, and the vaunted Texas defense held the Wolverines to a season-low 41 points. The next closest margin in this year's Elite Eight was South Carolina's 26-point margin over No. 3 TCU. In addition to UConn's 18-point win over No. 6 Notre Dame and UCLA's 12-point win against No. 3 Duke, the Longhorns' trouncing of the Wolverines of Michigan pushed up this year's Elite Eight average margin of victory to 23, the all-time largest among regional winners.
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More Longhorns: UCLA vs Texas odds for Women's March Madness Final Four game betting
Texas star Booker's 40 joined Caitlin Clark in NCAA Tournament history
Booker's career-high 40 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead Texas in its second-round 100-58 win over Oregon put her in elite company in three different ways.
Booked notched the single-game scoring mark by a Texas player in the NCAA Tournament. Her 40 eclipsed the 32 reached by Heather Schreiber and Clarissa Davis in 2003 and 1986, respectively. Booker's 40 is a high among all players in this year's tournament. Plus, she's the fourth player in NCAA Tournament history to score 40 with at least five rebounds and five assists in a game besides Iowa's Caitlin Clark (reached that mark thrice), Stanford's Candice Wiggins (2008) and Long Beach State's Cindy Brown (1987).
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Harmon broke 45-year Texas record, got scoring milestone in same game
When Texas rolled to a 77-64 win against Louisiana State on Feb. 6, Rori Harmon snared six steals to reach a career total — and Texas record — of 351. That broke Linda Wagonner's 347 career steals set in 1980. Also against LSU, Harmon reached 1,500 career points.
Texas aims to dominate UCLA again
Texas' semifinal with UCLA is a rematch from earlier this season.
UCLA (35-1) started the season 6-0, before being handed its only loss by Texas at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas on Nov. 26. Texas won, 76-65, and controlled UCLA all game, led by as much as 23 points and held UCLA to just 31% shooting on a season-low 65 points. The only time UCLA was in front of Texas was after scoring the game's first bucket.
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Texas is ranked fifth nationally in rebounds allowed and 12th in turnovers forced per game.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fun facts about 'Texas tough' Longhorns in 2026 Women's Final Four
