The No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns (35-3) are in Phoenix to face the No. 1 seed UCLA Bruins (35-1) in the Final Four Round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday in a rematch of the Players Era Championship Tournament, a 76-65 win for the Longhorns to give Texas a narrow 8-7 edge in the all-time series.
For UCLA, the back-to-back appearances in the final are the only two appearances in program history after last season ended with a blowout loss to eventual national champion UConn. At the helm, head coach Cori Close in her fifteenth season leads Bruins as they look for redemption in the Final Four for this season’s only defeat.
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In that matchup in Las Vegas, Texas took a 23-point lead in the third quarter before point guard Rori Harmon scored all 17 points in the fourth quarter to secure the victory, finishing with a game-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The Longhorns were able to take the big lead over the Bruins by forcing 20 turnovers, limiting UCLA to six points off the bench, and by slowing down star center Lauren Betts, who finished with eight points on 4-of-8 shooting, five field-goal attempts and roughly nine points below her eventual season averages.
In three matchups against SEC teams early in the season, Betts was held to single digit points.
“I think the biggest difference looking back at the film is just creating opportunities to get the ball as much as I can,” said the Big Ten Player of the year. “They’re a really amazing defensive team. I think as the guards are getting pressured on the perimeter, just trying to become so open that they just can’t not give me the ball. Coming out with a certain level of aggression is going to be really important. I’m going to make sure I do that from the very beginning.”
Guard Kiki Rice keys the perimeter defense and the offensive playmaking for UCLA with 53 steals and 156 assists while averaging 15.2 points per game. Backcourt mate Gabriele Jaquez, the young sister of former Bruins standout Jaime Jaquez, adds 13.4 poitns and 5.4 rebounds per game.
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The Bruins defense averages 12.6 forced turnovers that turn into an average 19.1 points per game, but only managed to score 13 points off turnovers against the Longhorns, while the offense shoots 51.3 percent from the field.
Like the Bruins, the Horns are in the Final Four for the second straight season under fifth-year head coach Vic Schaefer, the program’s sixth appearance overall. Like UCLA, Texas got dominated in the Final Four last year, losing by 17 points to Schaefer’s frequent nemesis Dawn Staley and her South Carolina team.
The Longhorns are also a program looking for a breakthrough, both for Schaefer and for Texas — in the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Tournaments, Shaefer’s Mississippi State teams finished as the national runner up while his current program marked its first Final Four appearance since 2003 last year. The Horns have only gotten past the Final Four once, winning the 1986 national title under legendary head coach Jody Conradt.
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Led by senior point guard Rori Harmon, the program’s all-time leader in steals and assists, and junior wing Madison Booker, the first player at Texas to the first player reach 1,800 points, 600 rebounds, and 400 assists in her carer, Schaefer believes this group is good enough to win it all.
“Right now, they’re playing as good as any team I’ve ever had,” Schaefer said on Thursday.
Texas has overwhelmed its opponents in the NCAA Tournament so far, beating its four opponents by an average of 33.3 points per game, keyed by Schaefer’s trademark defensive intensity that has produced 18.3 turnovers per game in the Big Dance.
“They’ve allowed me to really have the pure joy of coaching,” Schaefer said on Thursday. “I’m having as much fun as I’ve ever had in my life. Not because we’re winning but how we’re winning. How these kids honor the game, respect their opponents, their level of focus.”
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But how fondly history remembers this group of Longhorns will depend on whether they can make it by winning Schaefer’s first national championship and the second in school history.
Tip on Friday is at 8:30 p.m. Central at the Mortgage Matchup Center on ESPN.
