The Texas women’s basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament after a 76-54 win over Kentucky on March 28 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
The victory moves Texas to a season record of 34-3 and marks their eleventh consecutive win. The Longhorns’ strong performance included three players scoring in double figures. Jordan Lee led with 18 points, while Madison Booker added 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Rori Harmon contributed 11 points along with seven rebounds and seven assists.
After an early three-pointer by Kentucky’s Amelia Hassett, Texas responded with a decisive 15-0 run and finished the first quarter ahead by eighteen points. By halftime, the Longhorns had built a commanding lead of twenty-two points thanks to effective scoring inside the paint and capitalizing on turnovers.
Booker continued her strong play in the second half, leading Texas as both teams scored evenly over the final two quarters. Overall, Texas forced twenty-four turnovers from Kentucky and converted those into twenty-six points. The Longhorns also outscored their opponent forty-four to twenty-two in paint points and shot fifty-four percent from the field for their eighteenth game this season shooting at least fifty percent.
Several milestones were reached during this game: Booker became the first player in NCAA Tournament history with multiple games of at least fifteen points, five rebounds, five assists without any turnovers; Harmon joined Cheryl Miller as one of only two players ever to post eleven points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals in under thirty minutes of play during an NCAA Tournament game; Head Coach Vic Schaefer is now one of three active coaches who have guided teams to eight Elite Eights in nine seasons.
Texas will face No. 2 seed Michigan next on Monday evening for a spot in the Final Four.
