Texas Women's Basketball took on the TCU Horned Frogs in the Elite 8 this evening. It was a battle between two former conference opponents. TCU has been on a Cinderella run during this year's NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. They have done the impossible and made it to their first Elite 8 in school history.
However, all good stories must come to an end at some point. The Longhorns beat the Horned Frogs 58-47 and advanced to the Final Four to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.
You have to give a standing ovation to what the TCU Horned Frogs were able to accomplish in this tournament. Mark Campbell has done a great job of building that program in the first two seasons at the helm. This will not be the last time America sees the Horned Frogs in the Women's NCAA Tournament. I'm sure they will have a great season next year and be right back in it. Here are the four takeaways from tonight's win against the Horned Frogs.
Texas Women's Basketball see Rori Harmon step up
Longhorns senior guard Rori Harmon showed up tonight against the Horned Frogs. She finished the game with 13 points (nearly four points above her season average). She was the main reason the Longhorns led for the first half of the game.
She didn't finish as the leading scorer for the Longhorns, but helped them come away with the win as one of only two Horns in double figures. Madison Booker was the leading scorer for the Longhorns with 18 points, but Harmon, who also had five assists and two steals, is one of the reasons why the Longhorns are taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Final Four.
Texas Women's Basketball won the turnover battle
The Longhorns won the turnover battle and advanced to the next round. They forced the Horned Frogs to turn the ball over 21 times, and they scored 17 points off those turnovers, which helped Texas eliminate the Horned Frogs. TCU had a good run but learned not to mess with SEC teams in critical games. The turnover battle is sometimes crucial to who wins the game, and Texas won it tonight.
Texas Women's Basketball does good job containing Hailey Van Lith
The Longhorns did a good job of slowing down Horned Frogs guard Hailey Van Lith. She finished with eight points in the first half of tonight's game on her way to 17 points. If the Longhorns wanted to advance to the Final Four, they had to limit her ability to score tonight and not let her take over the game (she had 26 points against Notre Dame in the Sweet 16).
The Longhorns' suffocating defense did exactly that, holding Van Lith to 3-15 shooting. The Longhorns' next opponent will have better players to stop on defense, but the fact that Texas kept TCU's star in check was impressive.
Texas Women's Basketball shuts down the three point line
The Longhorns turned the Horned Frogs into a one-dimensional team tonight. Texas was able to shut down TCU's three-point shooting abilities. As a team, the Frogs were just 4-20 (20%) from beyond the arc.
Texas' perimeter defense was why the Horned Frogs weren't lethal on offense. When you have a terrible night shooting three-pointers, it could be the difference between advancing or going home during the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns' defense shut that down and sent the Horned Frogs packing.