Texas Women's Basketball took on the Illinois Fighting Illini in the round of 32 this afternoon at the Moody Center. The Longhorns are coming off a 44-point win over the William & Mary Tribe in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
Texas came out sluggish in the first quarter but turned it around once the second quarter was underway. The Longhorns went on to beat the Fighting Illini 65-48. It was a good win by the Longhorns, but I'm sure they weren't satisfied with how they started the game.
The Longhorns forced 20 turnovers and scored 23 points off of them. Their defense suffocated the Fighting Illini offense this afternoon, which is Vic Schaefer's specialty in coaching. I'm sure when the Longhorns review the film, they will find some things they need to clean up before taking on Tennessee in the Sweet 16. Let's look at the four takeaways from today's win over the Fighting Illini.
4. Allowing Illinois to hang around in the first quarter
One thing Texas needs to fix is allowing the opposing team to hang around and be in the game. Texas is known for its intense defensive game strategy of forcing turnovers and grabbing rebounds. The Longhorns can't allow an opposing team to have any optimism of having a shot of coming back and winning a game in March Madness. The fact Illinois was only down by four after the first quarter wasn't good. They should have been trailing more after the first quarter.
We are going to switch sports quickly to drive home this point across. For those who don't know, I'm the Site Expert over at Blackout Dallas when I'm not covering any Longhorns sports. The one thing that drives me crazy about the Stars is they allow non-playoff teams to remain in games when it should be a blowout victory.
Take the recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers, which should have been a 5-2 win for the Stars. Instead, the Stars allowed them to remain in the game to force OT. The Longhorns have to take the "spirit" out of these teams early in the game, so there's no chance of a comeback.
3. Defense came in clutch this afternoon
The Longhorns defense was the saving grace this afternoon and helped Texas separate themselves from the Fighting Illini in the second quarter. It seems like their defense bails them out whenever Texas can't get anything going offensively. The Longhorns scored on most of their turnovers, which helped them advance to the Sweet 16. Great job by Texas for shutting down a team that can do tons of damage with all five players on the court.
2. Booker did well this afternoon
Madison Booker did well this afternoon against the Fighting Illini. She finished the game with 20 points and 6 rebounds. The one thing Booker needs to work on for the Sweet 16 is her shot selections.
Teams have been eliminated by close scores before, and sometimes, the difference in the score is one or two possessions. Booker's defense was excellent today, but she needs to work on her shot selection before they head to Birmingham to take on the Tennessee Volunteers.
1. Winning without the home crowd
Texas will play on a neutral court in the Sweet 16. They won't have the Moody Center environment behind them. They have a pretty solid road record heading into the Sweet 16. Texas won all away games except for Notre Dame and South Carolina.
This is where the Longhorns get put to the test. They must take on a familiar foe in the Sweet 16, the Tennessee Volunteers. They will determine if Texas advances to the Elite 8 or heads home for the offseason.