Texas women’s basketball cruises to huge win over Southern

The Texas women’s basketball team kicked off their 2023-24 season against the Southern Jaguars. The Longhorns were a little shaky to start the game, which was expected, but after a couple of minutes, the offense got going. I don’t know what Texas Longhorns Women’s Basketball Coach Vic Schaefer said at the first timeout, but it sparked a huge run in the first half.

The Longhorns would cruise to a huge win over the Jaguars 80-35 in what was a great game to start the season. Let’s look at how the game unfolded tonight at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, and who’s next up for the Longhorns.

Texas Women’s Basketball vs Southern Recap: First Quarter

The first few minutes of the game were filled with turnovers as both teams were locked in defensively. Junior Guard Rori Harmon scored the first points of the season for the Longhorns three minutes into the game.

Texas went on a 5-0 run before Southern finally recorded their first basket of the night. Harmon took a hit going in for a layup and stayed down for a minute but shook it off. The Longhorns finished the first quarter capitalizing on a bunch of Jaguars turnovers to lead 21-7 after the first quarter.

Texas Women’s Basketball vs Southern Recap: Second Quarter

The Longhorns kick off the second quarter by shooting free throws to extend their lead. They also looked solid on offense by making passes and finding wide-open teammates compared to the first quarter.

After sitting most of the first quarter, Madison Booker got on the board by nailing a three-pointer. The Longhorns finished the second quarter, shutting down the Jaguars’ offense and padding their lead to 45-15. Longhorns Sophomore Forward Amina Mohammad led the team in points with 12 points. Senior Forward Taylor Jones scored the second most points with 8 points.

Texas Women’s Basketball vs Southern Recap: Third Quarter

The one thing opponents can’t do is leave Harmon wide open; she will punish you. Harmon opened up the scoring in the third quarter tonight with a wide-open three-point shot. She can also punish you with no-look passes to her teammates. She made a no-look pass to Booker for an easy layup. The Longhorns’ offense could not be stopped in the third as they finished the third quarter up 56-21 over the Jaguars.

Texas Longhorns Women’s Basketball vs Southern Recap: Fourth Quarter

Schaeffer kept his key players out there to start the fourth quarter. It was smart to give them more playing time since their next opponent on Sunday will be more of a challenge. Around the midpoint of the fourth quarter, he put in the backup players to get them experience in case they’re needed due to an injury. The Longhorns would finish the game by beating the Jaguars 80-35.

Texas Longhorns Women’s Basketball vs Southern Recap: Takeaways from tonight

There are two main takeaways from tonight’s game against the Jaguars. The first one is Booker and Harmon will be a problem this season for the Big 12. Once Booker got more playing time after the first quarter, she developed chemistry with Harmon. In the third quarter, Harmon fed Booker with no-look passes for easy buckets. Harmon also found Booker wide-open for the three-pointer, but she missed it. Regardless, both of them sent a warning to the Big 12 tonight.

The second takeaway from this game was Muhammed had a great game as well tonight. She averaged three points and four rebounds as a freshman. She started her sophomore season with a double-double against the Jaguars. You should expect her to be a big contributor on offense for the Longhorns this season.

Texas Longhorns Women’s Basketball vs Southern Recap: Upcoming Opponent

The Longhorns will have a bit of a break until they take on the Liberty Flames on Nov. 12. The Flames will probably be tired as they will be taking on the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks on Friday night. However, expect Flames Junior Guard Emma Hess to cause issues for the Longhorns. She finished with 21 points against the Frostburg Bobcats.