BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Texas center Kyla Oldacre stole the ball from TCU’s Sedona Prince, dribbled it nearly the length of the court and, just as the Horned Frogs in pursuit closed in, threw in a layup before falling to the floor.
The Longhorns’ bench burst into chaos. From locking arms, holding each other back from running onto the court, to falling to the ground screaming from excitement for their teammate, they completely changed the energy in Legacy Arena.
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“They all came at me,” Oldacre said, “and I was like ‘Guys, you’re making me smile.’”
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Her make, early in the fourth quarter, gave the Longhorns their first double-digit lead of the game.
And for someone who typically doesn’t smile, that’s when the Longhorns knew: Their 58-47 victory that sent them to the Final Four was officially the Kyla Oldacre show.
“She came out and she had a crazy spark,” junior guard Jordana Codio said. “Something about everything she did brought so much energy.”
The Longhorns players on the court immediately ran to Oldacre, helping her up and hugging her. After that, Oldacre just couldn’t keep a straight face anymore.
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“The fact that she just completely changed her expression after that, it was like ‘OK, yeah, we’re locked in,’” Codio said.
In the 15 minutes that she was on the court, the 6-foot-6 Oldacre finished with nine points, five rebounds, two steals and a block. She also had one of the hardest jobs on the court – guarding the 6-7 Prince.
Oldacre and senior center Taylor Jones, who started the game, joined forces, limiting Prince to just four points and nine rebounds while also forcing her to foul out with six minutes left in the game. Prince was averaging 17.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game coming into the Elite Eight matchup.
Jones watched Oldacre’s steal and fastbreak from the sidelines.
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“That was just such a pivotal play,” Jones said. “The momentum was going our way and that sort of sealed the deal.”
For someone who usually wears a game face, Oldacre couldn’t help but smile.
“She’s very serious, she gets the job done,” sophomore center Abbie Boutilier said. “And so it’s fun to see whenever she goes off like that and to see her energy, because we don’t see it a lot.”
Ansley Gavlak is a student in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inside Texas women’s basketball play that changed game vs. TCU
