Texas women's basketball had an outstanding season, capped by a thrilling victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. While I'm sure fans weren't happy with the early start time on Sunday, seeing the Longhorns finish with only three conference losses is pretty remarkable.
Now that the regular season is over, it's time to shift focus to the SEC Conference Tournament this weekend, which starts later today. Since the Longhorns are a top 3 seed in the tournament, their first game will be in the quarterfinals.
With the Longhorns at the bottom of the bracket, they will either face off against Mizzou, Alabama, or Tennessee on Friday. Those are some pretty good SEC teams that could keep the Longhorns from being a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament this month.
Before the festivities kick off later today, let's look at each of the potential opponents that Texas could end up facing in the quarterfinals on Friday:
1. No. 14 Missouri Tigers
Let's start with the team I highly doubt the Longhorns will see on Friday. Mizzou finished the regular season with only four wins in the SEC. They had a really tough conference schedule this season, so their record is pretty understandable. Their only problem in the first round of the tournament is how they will get past the Alabama Crimson Tide. If the Crimson Tide is almost able to get past Texas, Mizzou is going to have a rough day.
2. No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama is the team that really scares me out of the three, and let me tell you why. They almost defeated Texas in the fourth quarter when the Longhorns decided they had the game in the bag after the third quarter. They would really like to get another crack at Texas in the quarterfinals and possibly knock them out of being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Let's go over some of the players that the Longhorns need to keep an eye on if they end up playing the Crimson Tide.
Alabama guard Jessica Timmons is their leading scorer, and she's averaging 16 points and 4 rebounds per game. That's something that the Longhorns will need to stop if they want to advance to the semifinals on Saturday. They also need to keep guard Karly Weathers off the boards to eliminate any second-chance scoring opportunities. This is a team that I hope the Longhorns really don't have to see on Friday, and I'd rather Texas take on the Lady Volunteers with how they've been playing lately.
1. No. 6 Tennessee
A six-game losing streak to finish out the regular season is not an ideal record heading into the SEC Tournament. Kim Caldwell has tried everything to get her team back on track, but nothing seems to be working at the moment. This could be really good or really bad for the Longhorns. Teams looking to snap losing streaks are the most dangerous teams in conference tournaments.
Guard Talaysia Cooper is one of the players who gave the Longhorns a run for their money in the last matchup with the Volunteers. I'm sure Vic Schaefer will make sure she's locked down if the Longhorns and the Volunteers cross paths this week. Forward Janiah Barker is someone that Kyla Oldacre and the forwards will have to consistently box out under the rim.
The next couple of days will determine who the Longhorns play on Friday, so stay tuned for the pregame report on Hookem Headlines.