PHOENIX ― Texas women’s basketball isn’t just happy to be at the Final Four. The Longhorns want to win a championship.
On April 4, 2025, the Longhorns made the Final Four for the first time since 2003. The team says when it arrived in Tampa to take on South Carolina in its semifinal matchup, it was “just excited to be here.” The goal was simple: go out there and have fun. Texas lost to the Gamecocks 74-57. The Longhorns, indeed, did not have any fun. Texas owned the first quarter, but little else after that.
Advertisement
The Longhorns finished the matchup with just two players in double figures. Forward Madison Booker had 11 points, and guard Jordan Lee had 16 points off the bench. Starting point guard Rori Harmon had eight points on 33% shooting from the field. Two other starting players had just four combined points. After a 35-3 season, Texas’ year came crashing down to earth. On Thursday, ahead of a Final Four matchup with UCLA, the Longhorns said that after the deflating moment, the change in the team was nearly instant.
“I would say immediately after the season was over, we got to summer workouts, I think that shift happened then, especially who we knew who we were getting, who was coming back. We realized this team is completely different than last year, and the standard was definitely going to elevate,” Harmon said. “I’ve been feeling like this team has been locked in from the get-go.”
More: Texas reveals why coach’s ‘soft’ criticism sparked Women’s Final Four run
“I think we increased that focus and mentality,” Booker said. “Before the SEC Tournament started (in March), I think we knew that we had business, goals to achieve. We wanted to achieve it. We felt we were good enough to achieve it. I think that’s what we really locked in (on), kind of paid attention more to film, scout and practice.”
To Booker’s credit, Texas appears to be all business in Phoenix. No fluff. No frills. Just basketball.
Advertisement
On Thursday, Harmon, Booker and Lee arrived at media availabilities laser-focused. Booker looked straight ahead when she sat down to take questions at Texas’ press conference, showing little emotion. Harmon and Lee also appeared to be unbothered by the environment they were immersed in, as bright lights beamed down from above and dozens of media members sat waiting to ask questions.
The guard duo’s bottom lips were tucked in beneath their top lips, showing no teeth or a smile. Booker and Lee appeared calm, calculated. Head coach Vic Schaefer sat next to his players, with pride, glowing about his team being back in the Final Four. Schaefer was asked if he was worried about his team’s “clutch gene” or ability to get out of tight situations, given they haven’t had many lately. Texas has won its four games in the NCAA Tournament by an average of 35 points.
“I don’t. But I’ve got a fifth-year point guard. I’ve got Madison Booker, who has been in those games and been to the war. I stopped worrying about this group about three, four weeks ago,” Schaefer said without flinching.
“With what they’ve done and how they’ve done it, at some point you’ve got to step back and go, ‘OK, they’re good.’ I’ve been telling them this now for a while. They’re good enough.”
Advertisement
More: Texas basketball coach laments transfer portal after Iowa State mass exodus
When the stakes are so high, Schaefer says that his team doesn’t have any preconceived notion about how the games will unfold. His team is just in Phoenix to play. Still, even on the Longhorns’ business trip to the desert, they’ve brought an unexpected item with them: joy.
“I mean, they’ve been at a way different level. You know what? I said this the other night: They’ve allowed me to really have the pure joy of coaching. I’m having as much fun as I’ve ever had in my life,” Schaefer said.
“Not just because we’re winning, but how we’re winning, how we’re playing, how these kids honor the game, how they respect the game. They respect their opponents. Their level of focus. It’s just what I envisioned that a team and a group of committed student-athletes should look like at the University of Texas.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas all business at Women’s Final Four after 2025 experience
