Texas Women’s Basketball: Longhorns look to improve this year

Texas women’s basketball looks to get back to the Elite 8 this season. They abruptly lost to Louisville in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament last season. Head Coach Vic Schaefer has a good mixture of freshman and veteran players this upcoming season that could help them with a deep tournament run. Let’s take a look at some of the preseason awards and who are some players to watch this season.

Texas Women’s Basketball Preview: Preseason honors

The Longhorns got voted on for a lot of preseason awards this year. Longhorns Guard Rori Harmon was named Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year. She was also a unanimous selection for the Preseason All-Big 12 team. Harmon was also placed on the Nancy Lieberman Award list, a huge honor. Madison Booker was named the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

If you would like to see the remainder of the preseason honors, you can go to the article here.

Texas Women’s Basketball Preview: Players to watch

The Texas Longhorns Women’s basketball team has some veterans and freshmen you need to keep your eyes on this season. Let’s start off with the freshman forward, Madison Booker. She has quite an impressive resume, and you’ll see when she steps out on the court to play.

She’s a two-time World Cup gold medalist, winning with Team USA. She won the gold medal at the 2022 U17 and 2023 U19 FIBA Women’s World Cup. She was ranked 12th overall in the 2023 class by ESPN as well. Expect her to be a part of Schaefer’s game plan early this season.

Another freshman who is joining the Longhorns is Cedar Park’s Gisella Maul. Maul was a huge part of leading Cedar Park to their first-ever state title during the 2021-22 season and was named 5A MVP.

She also won the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year award and the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year. She enrolled at Texas early and sat out last season due to a torn ACL she sustained shortly after winning the state title.

Aaliyah Moore is one of the veterans to keep a close eye on this season. Her season abruptly ended last year due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury in December. She was a big part of the Longhorns winning the Big 12 title in 2022 and making an Elite 8 appearance. She knows Schaefer’s game plan and should be a veteran leader on the court this year.

Texas Women’s Basketball Preview: Schedule preview

The Longhorns have a couple of scrimmages starting on Oct. 24 with the Orange and White scrimmage. They will then take on Midwestern State in an exhibition on Nov. 2 at the Moody Center. Their season will then kick off against Southern University on Nov. 8.

The Longhorns will play home games against Liberty, UT Arlington, and Louisana Tech before hitting the road for the Paradise Jam. They will play Arizona State, High Point University, and South Florida at the tournament. They will also participate in the Jimmy V Classic by taking on UConn. After that, they will have four more non-conference games before starting Big 12 play against Baylor on Dec. 30.

For more news on Texas Women’s basketball this season, continue to check back in to Hook’em Headlines.