FORT WORTH, Texas — Vic Schaefer lingered in prayer a little longer than usual on Sunday night as he prepared to lead Texas in its Elite Eight showdown on Monday against Michigan.
He wasn’t just asking for another step toward a national championship – he wanted one more game and one more moment with his players, especially Rori Harmon in a burnt orange and white uniform.
Inside Dickies Arena, that prayer had been answered emphatically.
No. 1 seed Texas dismantled Michigan, 77-41, punching its ticket to a fifth Final Four and securing back-to-back appearances among the sport’s elite. But the moment leading up to the final curtain call in the Fort Worth Regional 3 clash — after the final 3-pointer from Texas reserve Sarah Graves — belonged to Schaefer and Harmon.
Dressed in a gray windowpane suit with a burnt orange tie, Schaefer wrapped his arms around his 5-foot-6 point guard and held on.
Tight.
Maybe tighter than ever before.
“I don’t think he’s hugged me that tight ever,” Harmon told a group of reporters near the edge of the multicolored confetti-filled court. “All he [Schaefer] told me was we’re going back [to Final Four].”
For Harmon, the embrace carried the weight of everything it took to get here.
In an era defined by transfer portal movement and lucrative NIL opportunities, Harmon chose continuity. She chose Schaefer. She chose Texas. Over five seasons, she became the program’s career assists leader and its first player to reach 1,300 points and 700 assists. She also endured one of the toughest setbacks of her career, a torn ACL in December 2023 that wiped out the remainder of her 2023-24 season.
The road back wasn’t guaranteed and the moment Monday delivered wasn’t owed.
But it arrived anyway.
“When you get to a point like heading to the Final Four, it’s just a really special moment,” Harmon added.
For Schaefer, it was personal. He wanted to see this through with her, not just as a coach, but as someone who understood the investment behind every assist, every recovery session, every return to the court.
“The kid has been so special,” a proud Schaefer told reporters postgame. “She’s been the heart of our team and program for a while.”
Texas played like a team determined to extend that story. The Longhorns (35-3) overwhelmed Michigan (28-7) from the start, delivering one of the most dominant Elite Eight performances in tournament history. The 36-point margin tied for the third-largest at this stage, and Texas’ defense suffocated Michigan to a season-low 41 points. Through four NCAA Tournament games, the Longhorns have outscored opponents by a staggering 142 points while compiling a 16-3 record against ranked teams this season.
For Schaefer, he became the first coach to reach multiple Final Fours with multiple programs and now stands two wins away from delivering Texas its first national championship in 40 years. However, that challenge comes with a familiar test.
Texas will face top-seeded UCLA on Friday in Phoenix, a rematch of the Bruins’ only loss this season in November.
Madison Booker led all Texas scorers with 19 points, slicing through Michigan’s defense on 8-of-13 shooting while adding seven rebounds and an assist. It marked her 36th double-digit scoring performance this season.
But Texas’ surge to the Final Four didn’t rest on one performance. Justice Carlton provided a finished with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. She paired that efficiency with seven rebounds and an assist, recording her 14th double-digit outing of the season.
Kyla Oldacre imposed her presence on both ends, powering her way to 12 points and 11 rebounds, securing her sixth double-double of the season and the 10th of her career. Breya Cunningham rounded out the balanced attack with 11 points and seven rebounds, notching her ninth double-digit performance this season.
“I feel like our team is complete,” Booker said postgame.
By the time the fourth quarter began, the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Texas carried a 55-29 lead into the final period and finished the job with authority. Carlton and Oldacre controlled the closing stretch, combining for 13 points and eight rebounds in the 22-point quarter for Texas. They turned second chances into points, dominated the glass and punished Michigan in the paint, a final surge that mirrored Texas’ identity.
Here are three takeaways from the Longhorns’ Elite Eight win on Monday:
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Texas’ defense is championship-level dominant
Texas dismantled everything the Wolverines wanted to do offensively. From the opening tip, the Longhorns dictated every possession, turning pressure into chaos and chaos into points. They forced Michigan into 15 turnovers, converting the Wolverines’ miscues into 19 points, and never allowed Michigan to find sustained rhythm. The Wolverines entered Monday’s contest shooting 46.9% from the field but never reached 27% in any quarter and finished at a season-stifling 22.8% in the contest.
Even at the rim, nothing came easy. Michigan went just 6-of-24 on layups. From beyond the arc, the Wolverines — who carried a 33.6% clip into the game — shot 13.3%.
The third quarter captured the imbalance. Michigan managed only eight points. Key scorers never found traction.
Olivia Olson, who averaged 19.2 points entering the matchup, finished with 11 points, four rebounds and four turnovers. Mila Holloway added 11 points but also turned it over four times. Michigan failed to reach 20 made field goals for the first time since early March.
This is the standard Texas chases and enforces. With Monday’s win, Texas improved to 12-0 when allowing 50 points or fewer and 20-0 when holding teams under 60.
However, that identity didn’t fully crystallize until it was challenged. The Feb. 12 loss to Vanderbilt forced a reset. Schaefer barely recognized his team at that time. In response, Harmon and Booker reinforced the program’s defensive expectations, not as a guideline, but as a requirement.
The shift since then has been unmistakable.
“I think we’ve done a complete 180 from the Vanderbilt game,” Breya Cunningham told a group of reporters inside the Longhorns locker room during postgame. “… That was just really bad basketball. We talked about defense, how our standards holding teams under a certain number [60], we’ve been focused on that and being better communicators on defense.”
Texas backed that mindset with effort across every phase. The Longhorns controlled the glass, outrebounding Michigan 49-32. They protected the rim with five blocks and disrupted passing lanes with 11 steals.
The Longhorns’ frontcourt turned control into a blowout
By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Texas had already built distance between itself and Michigan. What followed turned separation into a rout.
While much of the spotlight often settles on the Longhorns’ backcourt, Texas’ frontcourt delivered the final blow. Carlton and Oldacre took control of the paint, combining for 13 of Texas’ 22 fourth-quarter points. They scored through contact, finished easy looks, converted at the free throw line and controlled the glass, grabbing eight of the team’s 16 rebounds in the period.
Michigan had size in terms of length. However, Texas answered with force.
“Going into the game, like, size wise, we knew that we were bigger than them, so it was kind of a focus to just work hard, try to post up and finish if we have the opportunity,” Breya Cunningham told The IX Basketball. “Our guards were really good in the first half and then [Michigan] adjusted.”
The shift didn’t come without resistance.
Texas opened the third quarter cold, missing its first seven shots and committing two turnovers, one each from Madison Booker and Rori Harmon. But after a media timeout — and shortly after Schaefer took off his jacket — he refocused his team, emphasizing dominance, efficiency and defensive pressure.
The response was immediate. Texas hit its next three field goals, stretching the lead to 42-25. Moments later, Booker buried a pair of high-arcing jumpers, and the Longhorns’ frontcourt took over. Carlton and Oldacre punished the interior, scoring Texas’ final seven points of the quarter while the defense held Michigan to just eight points.
The quarter also included a moment that ignited the Longhorns’ grit in a big way. With the shot clock winding down, Oldacre spotted a lane and finished with a smooth finger roll, a move that sent the Texas bench into a frenzy and the crowd inside Dickies Arena into a roar.
As Oldacre later walked into the locker room smiling, a contrast to her usual stoic presence on the court, she made clear what fueled her performance.
“I didn’t want to go home, so honestly, I’m going to play my best in order for that not to happen,” she said.
But, the move itself carried a bit of risk.
“I saw the shot clock going down and then I saw the lane,” Oldacre said. “[But] he [Schaefer] makes us run if we do finger rolls. In practice, if I were to miss it or anybody else miss it, immediately yells baseline.”
This time, no running was required. Instead, it became one of the defining plays of the night.
“That was tough,” Bryanna Preston said. “…I’m like Kyla [Oldacre] is paying out of her mind. That’s an energy shift for us. We definitely just fed off of that because we were doing crazy bench celebrations. Everybody was playing 10 times harder, like on the defensive end … we were all locked in.”
Rori Harmon’s historic legacy continues to grow
When Harmon stepped onto the floor for pregame warmups Monday night, the reaction came quickly and loudly.
An ovation poured down from the Texas crowd. It followed her again later, when she stood on the confetti-covered court, named to the Fort Worth Regional 3 All-Tournament Team alongside Madison Booker and Lee, thanking fans who lingered in the stands long after the game.
But Harmon’s impact isn’t measured in applause. It’s felt in every possession.
She directs. She settles. She accelerates. She is, as her teammates describe her, the engine behind everything Texas does.
“She’s like the head honcho,” Texas guard Bryanna Preston said. “She walks with that poise, that energy and she’s definitely driving the ship. We’re all following [her] like, ‘We here captain, what you got for us.’”
Oldacre has watched that presence evolve in real time.
“The past few years I’ve been here at Texas, just seeing Rori [Harmon] become more demanding out of us and knowing what we need to do and what we need to fulfill offensively and defensively and knowing that she also trusts us, that gives us a lot of confidence and how she continues to encourage us despite if it’s not a bright day,” Oldacre said.
Harmon finished with seven points, seven rebounds and 13 assists, one shy of her career-high and her eighth game this season with double-digit assists. For Schaefer, moments like these come with perspective.
He’s watched Harmon grow into the player — and leader — she is now. He also knows the clock is ticking.
“I was having a conversation with her tonight in the game a couple of times, like, ‘Hey, run my team, run this team,’” Schaefer said. “… Whenever this thing [NCAA Tournament run] does end, it’s going to be a little different for the old ball coach to come walking into the gym after five years, and Rori Harmon ain’t going to be in there. It will be different.”
Harmon understands what’s ahead, too. A year ago, she stood on the Final Four stage as Texas fell to South Carolina in Tampa. The moment overwhelmed her. This time feels different.
“I was on my cry fest last year,” Harmon said. “I’m just so locked in. I want to win so bad. We’re just so close. There’s only two games left for us, obviously if [you] win the first one. It means so much.
“We [Texas players] know what it’s [Final Four] like now. More experience, more knowledge. I think that’s the plus, another level of confidence. … I’m going to lay it out on the court, no matter what. There’s nothing to lose at this point.”
A Final Four showdown awaits Texas in Phoenix
The next step in Texas’ march for a national championship won’t come easy.
Not to mention, this year’s Final Four teams — South Carolina, Texas, UCLA and UConn — marks the second time the same four teams will compete in back-to-back Final Fours. The last time that happened was in the 1995 and 1996 campaigns.
And for Texas, its opponent is a familiar one but one the Longhorns face on an even bigger stage. Texas will face UCLA, a clash between two No. 1 seeds with a shared history this season.
The Longhorns claimed the first meeting between the two teams in November, a 76-65 win that remains UCLA’s only loss. While Texas surged into the national semifinals with a dominant dismantling of Michigan, UCLA battled through adversity, erasing a halftime deficit to defeat Duke 70-58 to extend its tourney run.
Texas thrives in disruption. The Longhorns force 22.2 turnovers per game — among the best marks in the nation — and convert defense into offense, often finishing possessions in the paint before opponents can recover. Pace, pressure and physicality shape everything they do.
UCLA prefers control. Anchored by Lauren Betts, the Bruins lean on size, structure and half-court execution. They work deliberately to establish position inside, creating opportunities for Betts in the paint while freeing guards like Kiki Rice to attack downhill and shooters such as Gianna Kneepkens to stretch the floor.
If Texas dictates tempo — forcing turnovers, speeding up possessions and turning defense into easy points — it can tilt the game in its favor. But if UCLA settles into the half court, feeds the interior and plays through Betts, the Bruins become difficult to dislodge.
UCLA brings the nation’s premier true post presence. Texas counters with depth, physicality and a defensive system that has already proven it can disrupt even elite frontcourts.
For Bryanna Preston, Monday’s performance only reinforced that belief.
“They [Texas post players] got to see Lauren Betts, another great post player,” Preston said. “If they can do the same thing that they’ve been doing all year, I have a lot of confidence in the outcome of this game as well. …We fell short [of a national championship] last year but I’m more confident in this group.”
Confidence, built through experience, also fuels Oldacre.
“They [UCLA] became such a better team [since November],” she said. “But it’s business. We’re more than capable and have that confidence.”
Madison Booker and Betts present matchup challenges on opposite ends, while Harmon and Rice could ultimately decide the rhythm — and control — of the game.
Looking for more March Madness stories? Read all our NCAA Tournament coverage at The IX Sports.
