The Fire is Burning for This Texas Coach After Missing Final Four in Dallas
Texas Women’s Basketball coach Karen Aston sat in the stands during the Final Four in Dallas earlier this month.
That’s as far as Karen Aston could get to a Final Four in the Longhorns’ home state after Texas Women’s Basketball was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16. And that’s just added more fuel to the fire.
Coach Aston’s fire was lit before this season even began. The progression was there from not the NCAA Tournament Second Round to the Sweet 16 to the Elite 8 last year. So, the natural next step was the Final Four this year.
Instead, Texas took one step back when they could not overcome Stanford in the Lexington Regional. And then Coach Aston had to watch Stanford play the Final Four in Texas. Consider the fire now smoldering hot.
In her wrap-up press conference this week, Coach Aston talked about having to be patient. And, trusting the process of getting to the Final Four – somewhere Texas has not been since 2003 when the Horns lost to UConn by 2 points.
Aston said she is trying to draw from 2017 National Champion coach Dawn Staley, who chased a National Title for 10 years. She trusted the process of setbacks, roster turnover, and obstacles to persevere and build a National Title contender.
So, what does Texas need to do to erase the backward step and push forward to the Final Four and perhaps a National Title?
Karen Aston Identifies Two Major Areas of Improvement
For Texas Women’s Basketball, it comes down to outside shooting and in-game teamwork.
Coach Aston addressed the shooting with two McDonald’s All-Americans that she recruited: Rellah Boothe and Chasity Patterson. Both dominated the McDonald’s All-American Game in March and will add perimeter shooting to the team.
Plus, Big 12 Player of the Year Brooke McCarty will continue to improve in her senior year. But, what happened to McCarty in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game?
McCarty only got off one three-pointer in Texas’ last game of the season – and it was in the last minute of the game.
Coach Aston attributed that to teamwork still developing, even that deep into the season. But, she knows this team is hungry and they will continue to improve in the offseason.
Aston said everyone there needs to be a collective progression in the offseason to where players understand how to help other players. This includes technical elements like setting proper screens to free up a player like McCarty for open threes.
Was the Texas Women’s Basketball Schedule Also a Factor in Swoon?
Texas played one of the most difficult schedules in women’s college basketball.
Their non-conference losses were against National Champ South Carolina and Final Four teams UConn, Stanford, and Mississippi State. Yes, Texas played every Final Four team during the regular season.
Plus, Texas played Baylor twice and the rest of the Big 12 in the round-robin format. It was a grueling schedule that Aston says perhaps caught up to the team mentally and physically to where they did not execute in key games like a home loss to Baylor and Sweet 16 season-ender against Stanford.
Along the way, Texas went on an epic 19-game winning streak that included a non-conference, double overtime road win against Top 10 Florida State. Then, Texas had to finish the Big 12 regular season schedule.
Unfortunately, Texas struggled to finish strong. They fell to #2 in the Big 12 behind Baylor and lost in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament before the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Aston said if this year’s schedule was not balanced, then she feels good about the schedule this coming year. That includes a home date against UConn, which is currently slated for late in the season to break up the Big 12 schedule. That should be an epic game in Austin.
Next: Here's All The Streaks Texas Broke vs. Baylor in Waco
It’s all part of Coach Aston wanting to face the best in the women’s game. Because the fire is burning even hotter after sitting in the stands in Dallas watching four other teams play in the Final Four in Texas.