Birmingham, ala. – Texas coach Vic Schaefer met Madison Booker for the first time when Booker was a schoolgirl. Even then, he could say that the future Longhorns Wing would be a special talent. On Monday in Birmingham, Booker showed why she was already considered one of the biggest sports stars despite her second year.
The victory of the longest longhorns 58-47 Elite Eight on the TCU n ° 2 was far from the most beautiful of the games, but the mid-range rider of Booker was as picturesque as any aspect of it. His fadeway with 2:02 to play and Texas clinging to a six -point lead was an appropriate finishing movement. She ended up with a top of 18 points and six rebounds, playing every minute except two of the victory.
Texas has been going to its first Final Four since 2003. In recent years, the Longhorns had struck at the door of the last weekend of the NCAA tournament, having lost eight in the elite in the last three of the last seasons. Not Monday, however. Not against their opponent in the state. The 35th Texas victory of the season is also a new program record.
TCU has also experienced a historic year. The horns in horns had never made Sweet 16 before, and even less in the 40 minutes of a Final Four. Their 34 victories are a school record. But against Texas, TCU’s elite offensive had to grind each possession. The star goalkeeper Hailey Van Lith missed seven of his first eight shots. She finished with 17 points, but had to work for each of them.
The horns in horns finished the first half with more reversals (11) than goals in the field (7). And although the Texas offensive was slowed down in the same way, Booker and the Senior Guardian of Texas Rori Harmon, having scored 13 points, helped the longhorns to do just enough. This is all that matters at that time in March.
A 6-0 race in Texas at the end of the third trimester extended the longhorns to nine. He went to 14 in the fourth quarter. Although TCU made a late charge, Booker helped reverse the return of the Frogs to horns. Friday evening, Texas walks to face the South of the South Temps.
Kyla Oldacre: the last X factor out of the bench for Texas
On Saturday, the spark of the bench was the recruit Bryanna Preston on Monday, it was the junior post Kyla Oldacre. She only played two minutes in the first half after picking up two fast faults, but was a manufacturer of difference in the second period.
Its size helped limit Sedona Prince, the TCU star, who had trouble moving it from the block and obtaining a job in the post. Prince finished with only four points on 1 shot out of 4 and nine rebounds. But it was the boost on the offensive that Oldacre provided that sent the Texas in the Final Four.
Oldacre entered the game with an average of nine points and only taking five shots per game. She found her touch early with a great decision to move around Prince, finished in the basket and never slowed down from there. She finished with nine points, five rebounds, two interceptions and a block.
As good as the stars of Texas, it obtained a boost from the bench in the Sweet 16 of Preston and Monday obtained another from Oldacre. – Cameron Teague Robinson, Writer of University Basketball
TCU reverses the historic season of Doom for horns in horns
TCU entered Monday’s match as one of the country’s best teams when it comes to taking care of the ball.
Led by Van Lith, horns in horns were only 12 reversals per game, a brand of the country’s top 20. Texas, however, put pressure on TCU All Game and The Horned Frogs had no answer. They had a hard time making the ball were rooted after a Texas basket and was called for three 5 -second violations. Even when they made the ball, they fought and were called to a 10 -second violation.
TCU finished the match with 21 reversals and only 12 made goals on the field. These turnover affects what was largely a good defensive performance against the Longhorns, but they could not transform these chances into points. – Teague Robinson
(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
