‘We’re on a mission’: Inside Texas’ emotional Elite Eight win against TCU

Madison Booker never forgot the feeling she felt when she walked off the court to the locker room inside the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, to NC State’s pep band blasting its “Red and White” song as a rite of passage in the Wolfpack continuing their tournament run and shutting the door on her freshman season. As Texas found itself facing the barrier of the Elite Eight once again in a Lone Star showdown against TCU on Monday night, Harmon and Booker didn’t want to relive that agony.

“I asked [God] for his strength before this game,” Booker told The Next after Monday’s contest. “I put all my worries and cares on him.”

However, facing a stout Horned Frogs’ team built on a heavy rotation of ball-screen activity starring Big 12 Player of the Year Hailey Van Lith, a dominant post presence anchored by Sedona Prince — who once was a freshman on the Longhorns’ roster in 2018 under ex-Texas coach Karen Aston before undertaking a lengthy collegiate basketball career — and a top six team nationally in 3-point shooting percentage, the Longhorns needed an epic defensive performance.

---

Order ‘Becoming Caitlin Clark’ and save 30%

---

Barring TCU exercising a late 7-0 run before halftime and the Horned Frogs employing a mid-third quarter run to tie the game at 29, Texas stepped up to the challenge and fulfilled its demand emphatically. Harmon smothered Van Lith on TCU’s high ball screens, and Texas’ post players provided timely hedges on those screens to disrupt a Horned Frogs’ offense that poured in 71 points against Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon. The result of Texas’ defensive prowess against TCU produced a 58-47 victory for the Longhorns and the program earning its first Final Four appearance since 2003.

“That was vintage Rori [Harmon],” Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said postgame. “I promise you, [you could ask] her what gum she [Van Lith] is chewing.”

Harmon and Booker combined for 31 points while dishing seven assists, generating four steals and grabbing eight rebounds in the Longhorns’ victory. Although the duo’s efforts played a significant role in steering Texas to a win, their performances were matched with crucial defensive efforts from their teammates, combined with a hefty interior showcase in the paint and pivotal scoring opportunities from the Longhorns’ bench with a shot at the Final Four on the line.

As Schaefer hoisted the Birmingham Region 3 championship trophy above his head inside Legacy Arena, Harmon stood to the right side of her coach and posed for a selfie with her phone while Booker smiled and held up the Hook ‘Em horns sign to commemorate the moment. The SEC Player of Year, along with Texas forward Aaliyah Moore, led the band and cheer squad in a round of spirited cheers in front of dozens on fans playing in the tourney confetti and savoring the moment. The Longhorns knocked down the Elite Eight wall that prevented them from blazing a new frontier in the tournament.

Schaefer, who has sacrificed an innumerable amount of time away from his family and missed countless moments in his 38 years of coaching, reminded everyone that basketball is not a job for him but rather a way of life.

 “I’m emotionally invested in what I do,” Schaefer said postgame “…[Coaching basketball] is not a check. This is who I am.”

Here are four takeaways from the Longhorns’ victory and the end of their 22-year drought from the coveted Final Four.

• Texas Longhorns: How Texas freshmen helped Longhorns defeat Tennessee
• TCU Horned Frogs: How Hailey Van Lith led TCU to first Elite Eight in program history

Longhorns’ stifling defense on TCU’s ball screens

From the opening moments of the contest, Texas quickly signaled that its defense would be the catalyst in a Longhorns’ victory. As Texas delivered heavy pressure on the TCU’s high ball screens and implemented its full court press defensively, the turnovers quickly began to mount for the Horned Frogs.

By the first timeout of the contest with 3:58 to play in the opening quarter, Texas had forced TCU to commit four turnovers. By the end of the first half, the Horned Frogs committed 11 turnovers, one shy of their season average per game (12). 

“I think our [defensive] press was number one thing,” Schaefer said postgame.

Shay Holle, one of the team’s five seniors and the winningest player in UT basketball history, aided Harmon in clamping down on Van Lith — who shot 3-of-15 from field for 17 points with more than half of her production coming from the free throw line where she notched 10-of-11 — as well as leaving limited space for TCU’s sharpshooter Madison Conner to secure decent opportunities from beyond the arc.

“When me and Rori got into switches [on screens], we did a really good job of switching out hard,” Holle said postgame. “Just trying to get the ball out of [Van Lith’s] hands.”

Still, as elite as Texas’ defense played, the Horned Frogs managed to give a valiant effort in the third quarter to tie the game and make things interesting. However, the Longhorns responded with a 13-4 run to close the third quarter and carried that momentum for the remainder of the game.

Texas forced TCU into 21 turnover and multiple five-second violations as the Horned Frogs attempted to inbound the basketball.

---

Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?

Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.

Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.

---

Longhorns’ dominant interior presence

Beyond Van Lith’s ability to penetrate deep into the interior of opposing defenses, Prince was the next-most important player to stop in order to slow down the Horned Frogs’ offense. The 6’7 center and Van Lith’s dominance in the pick-and-roll terrorized multiple teams over the course of the season. However, Taylor Jones, Kyla Oldacre and Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda embraced the challenge of defending Prince.

Jones, a native of Forney, Texas, tied Booker for the most rebounds in the game with six, to go along with seven points, one steal and four blocks that included an emphatic swat-and-stare-down against Prince, a fellow Texan who she battled against during her days at Oregon State when the center played at Oregon.

Jones said the block on Prince meant a little more to her than some of the others.

“There’s history there, and we just wanted to send her home [from the tournament],” Jones told The Next.

Oldacre, who was limited to two minutes and two fouls in the first half, scored seven of her nine points and two of her five rebounds in the fourth quarter. However, the 6’6 center’s production went beyond the paint on Monday night. She denied TCU players from getting the ball inbounds on several possessions and notched two steals that resulted in her galloping down the right sideline for a fastbreak layup plus a free throw on the foul to cap one of the game’s biggest moments.

“I was like, ‘Hell yeah,’” Jones told The Next with a laugh. “It was such a pivotal moment, and I was so proud of her.”

Longhorns freshman guard Jordan Lee agreed: “I might be biased, but I think it was the play of the year,” she told The Next.

At halftime, despite TCU struggling to shoot the ball well from the floor, the Horned Frogs led the Longhorns in offensive rebounds (8-5) and defensive rebounds (14-13) mainly behind the play of TCU’s Agnes Emma-Nnopu, who captured eight of the team’s 38 rebounds in the contest.

When Schaefer asked who could step up to the plate and keep Emma-Nnopu off the glass, Mwenentanda took the charge. 

“She stands up, raises her hand and says, ‘Coach, I can do it,’” Schaefer said postgame. “It kind of juiced up my team a little bit.”

While the South Dakota native only tallied two rebounds in the contest, her four points in the third quarter — a field goal on the low block and two free throws — played a role in helping Texas separate from TCU going into the fourth quarter.

As Texas prepares to face South Carolina on Friday for a fourth time this season in the Final Four, the Longhorns’ post presence will be a key factor. According to Sydney Carter, UT’s director of player development, the daily competition between the trio in the interior is a big reason why Texas sits on the heels of a national championship.

“There’s a competition every day,” Carter told The Next. “It’s like, alright, who wants the [starting] job [at the post position]. …Taylor [Jones] has been to the wars, here, there and everywhere, and has so much experience, and so she’s showing Kyla the way. Kyla isn’t backing down from anyone.”

---

Add Locked On Women’s Basketball to your daily routine

Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.

---

Rori Harmon, Madison Booker’s contributions and leadership

While most people will glance at the box score and see Booker and Harmon’s contributions, the duo’s leadership and their commitment to maintain the discipline to lead by example is unmatched. Booker scored 14 of her 18 points in the game in the second half after finishing 2-of-8 from the field with four points.

Booker demands greatness of herself. It’s why she chose to come to Texas because Schaefer brings out the best in her. Still, the sophomore sensation can be hard on herself when she doesn’t live up to her standards. But, as she lives the example of practicing good habits, she said her teammates truly empower her to stay focused and grounded at all times.

“They really put confidence in me,” Booker told The Next. “They kind of stayed in my ear [in the first half]. Even Kyla [Oldacre] and she really doesn’t say much. She just kind of like, ‘Madison, you got it, bounce back.’”

As the final seconds ticked off the clock in a Longhorns’ victory, Harmon placed her hands on her knees and kept her head down. It was a moment of personal reflection for the veteran point guard. She needed it. Leading four other players on the court, being a constant voice to all of the players on the team, remaining selfless and defending your opponent like your life is on the line can be taxing. Combine those traits with Harmon’s personal setback, one that she overcame in a 10-month span, only adds to the level of accomplishment.

“To see us get to the Final Four after recovering … I thought it was an amazing thing, and I was just really proud of myself in that moment,” Harmon said postgame.

Some teams never earn a trip to the Final Four. Harmon and her teammates will get the chance to compete for a national title, a legendary feat that hasn’t been done since 1986 when Jody Conradt graced the Longhorns’ sideline.

If Texas reaches the apex of women’s college basketball in the next week, it will begin and end with Harmon.

“When she comes to practice, she makes you happy to be at work,” Carter told The Next. “I know she’s going to defend, and I know she’s going to lead our team where we need to be.”

The Longhorns’ freshmen step up once again

The last time Texas clashed in the Final Four in the now demolished Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Bryanna Preston, Jordan Lee and Booker were not born. Harmon was a couple weeks from turning four months old. Aaliyah Moore was a baby and Holle hadn’t celebrated her second birthday while other players like junior guard Sarah Graves and Mwenentanda were not born until after the battle of the four best teams in the nation.

Before Schaefer begins practice with his players inside Cooley Pavilion during the week, he glances at the 1986 championship banner that looms over the court. He also takes a good look at the program’s 2003 Final Four banner each day. It’s part of his routine of what defines him.

“When I took the job five years ago, that was something obviously that was on their mind and it’s something that’s been on my mind,” Schaefer said postgame. “You’re obsessed with it. It’s the only way you’re ever going to do it. You just think about it five months out of the year, you’re never going to get there.”

Schaefer became the fifth person to guide two different teams to the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament after Monday’s victory. His previous two Final Four trips came during his head coaching tenure at Mississippi State in 2017 and 2018. Ahead of the Elite Eight matchup on Monday, he showed his players a picture of the Bulldogs’ starting five from those two seasons and explained what those teams had to do to get to the point where Texas wants to be after Friday’s game.

If Schaefer plans to capture his first championship and the program’s second title, he will need the production and support of Lee and Preston. While the freshman classification sits next to their names on the roster, they have earned valuable minutes in two of the biggest games for the Longhorns this season.

Preston averaged 14 minutes across the Longhorns’ three previous meetings against South Carolina this season with the freshman earning the most playing time (18 mins) in the SEC Tournament championship game. Lee averaged 21 minutes across the trio of games with her largest number of minutes coming in the January matchup at Colonial Life Arena.

On Monday, Lee finished with five points including a big 3-pointer near the final minute of the third quarter and Preston garnered three assists and two rebounds in nine minutes of action.

“A lot of people are probably counting us out,” Preston told The Next. “We’re on a mission. … The veterans here, they know how it feels to lose. They now know how it feels to win. We have to keep the ball rolling. … As long as we lean on each other, we’re going to be fine.”

Lee agreed: “Getting to this moment is all you think about your entire life,” she told The Next. “We came [into the season] with Final Four expectations. Knowing our seniors have been knocking on the door their whole career, we wanted to come in and help with that opportunity for them in their last year.”

As Texas prepares to take flight to Tampa, Fla., in hopes of cutting down the nets at Amalie Arena in the Sunshine State, Jones said the message for the remaining portion of the Longhorns’ journey is simple.

“It’s going to take grit and toughness,” Jones told The Next.

With Harmon and Booker leading the way, they plan to cherish every moment.

“This is an opportunity that we’ll never get back,” Booker told The Next. “You don’t take it for granted. … We’re not done yet.”

---

Order ‘Rare Gems’ and save 30%

Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The Next and The IX, released his latest book on May 7, 2024. This deeply reported story follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.

If you enjoy his coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.” Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.

---