PHOENIX — Madison Booker fought back tears at Friday’s postgame press conference as she pondered how UCLA was able to neutralize her in Texas’ 51-44 Final Four loss to the Bruins in Phoenix.
“I actually have no idea… I don’t know. I just…” Booker said as she paused to gather herself.
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Booker was held to six points in Texas’ second consecutive Final Four loss, where she shot 3-of-23 from the field and 0-of-4 from the 3-point line. But Booker didn’t have the opportunity to pin the loss on herself. Rori Harmon emphatically interjected: “(Booker’s) going to sit here and be like, ‘This is on me.’ No, it’s not.”
“You got to realize, (Madison Booker) is human. She’s a basketball player,” Harmon said. “I truly told Maddie, ‘I don’t care.’ I don’t care what your statistics look like. There was plenty of other things that caused us to lose the game, not just because Madison (Booker) missed her money midrange, because I promise you we’ll continue to go back to her, we’ll continue to look for her, we’ll continue to tell her to take her shot.”
Booker entered Friday’s Final Four on a heater, shooting 61.6% from the field over her last five games. The junior forward scored the first points of the night, but missed her next 17 shots from the field — the longest streak of missed field goals in Final Four history — according to ESPN. Booker said UCLA’s length and size bothered her, but she admitted it came as a “surprise when I couldn’t get out of my funk.”
“It felt like every shot I put up, it felt like it was going to be money, but no,” Booker said. “I think my teammates did a great job today at just making sure my spirits were high, my confidence was still high. Every shot, I shot it with confidence.”
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Booker and Harmon have been Texas’ dynamic duo all season long. The pair holds a 81-8 record when they play together, but their eighth loss together stings the most. It not only marks the end of Texas’ title pursuit, it marks the end of Booker and Harmon’s run together as teammates.
It lead to a question Booker and Harmon were dreading. “We were hoping that we would never hear that question today,” Booker said, when asked what she’ll miss most about Harmon.
“That’s my sister,” Booker said through tears. “Just her growth just over the years since I’ve been here. I mean, my first year coming in, it didn’t go as planned. We didn’t play a full year together. Her going down with her ACL. Her coming back and being even stronger. I’ve learned so much from her. Impact on and off the court. Our relationship we built. There’s not many words to describe it. I mean, I will always root for Rori no matter what.”
Booker said she “wouldn’t be me without Rori Harmon,” a statement that made Harmon emotional.
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Texas head coach Vic Schaefer has full confidence in Booker and predicted she’ll be back in the Final Four.
“Sometimes it just happens. … She going to have the same opportunity again,” Schaefer said. “She’s 555 points from being the all-time leading scorer in the University of Texas. Her jersey, No. 35, will be hanging from the rafters next to KD’s if I have anything to do with it. She’s really special. She continues to grow.”
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at @CydHenderson.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Madison Booker breaks down as Texas season ends, Rori Harmon defends her
