After Winning the SEC Tournament Gauntlet, This May Finally Be the Year for Texas

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Vic Schaefer challenged his players to throw the first punch on Sunday. They did. And then they threw another, and another, and another for good measure, and they did not stop until they had won the SEC.

A final score of 78–61 does not quite capture what No. 4 Texas did to No. 3 South Carolina to win the SEC conference tournament on Sunday. It shows that it was the biggest loss of the year for Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks. But the number alone does not fully illustrate the overpowering nature of this victory. Texas became the rare team able to make South Carolina uncomfortable to the point of looking unrecognizable. It was an effort that underscored a larger truth here.

This is the best, most balanced Longhorns team of the Vic Schaefer Era, and it’s very much a legitimate title contender.

“I wrote on the board that today would be about toughness,” Schaefer said. “It would be about resilience, and they’d need to bring an edge. And I thought we brought that edge.”

They did indeed. It was Schaefer who had previously groused about the quick turnaround between the Saturday night game and the Sunday afternoon championship with an hour lost in between due to daylight saving time. But it was Staley’s crew who came out looking as if they were still asleep. The lethargic start doomed them.

South Carolina turned the ball over five times in its first six possessions. It was 14–0 by the time Staley called her first timeout. The Longhorns had forced the Gamecocks into as many bad spots as can exist in the game of basketball—picking off bad passes, beating them to loose balls, forcing them out of bounds. It was scarcely three minutes into the first quarter. A win already looked close to a foregone conclusion for Texas.

“We knew that even if we had a great start like that, they were going to fight back no matter what,” said Texas forward Madison Booker, who finished with 18 points and four rebounds and was named tournament MVP. “We had to stay poised, stay grounded, and just keep doing the same things that work for us.”

South Carolina did fight back. But Texas forced them to do it on their terms. The Longhorns dictated the pace for the entirety of the game. They punctuated stretches of slow, suffocating pressure with a few well-timed bursts of speed. It did not particularly matter which players were on the floor. Booker spent a bit of time on the bench early after picking up her second foul, and so did Justice Carlton, who got tangled in foul trouble after dominating the first quarter with a quick 13 points. Yet even getting some of the best players off the court did not offer much reprieve for South Carolina.

JUSTICE. CARLTON. IS. ON. FIRE. 🔥👌#HookEm pic.twitter.com/HPYBOSn3ye
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) March 8, 2026

The Gamecocks drew within nine points for less than a minute in the second quarter. That was as close as they got. The Longhorns kept a double-digit lead for the entirety of the second half.

Discipline had been the theme of the pregame devotional for Texas. “The game will discipline you,” Schaefer said. “If you don’t play the game right, if you go out and play haphazardly or carelessly, the game will discipline you.” But his team had so much self-discipline on Sunday that it was hard to believe the game could have possibly given them any more.

Texas and South Carolina split their season series this year. Those games were decided by a combined five points—the programs looked as evenly matched as they could possibly be. A statement win like this shifts the outlook here. It also shakes up the bracket. The Longhorns’ win makes it far more likely that Texas will be placed in the Fort Worth regional instead of Sacramento. That would create de facto home games for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.

Schaefer, of course, did not want to comment on anything that might happen beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. (“I’ll go wherever they send me,” he quipped. “I’ll take this team to Timbuktu.”) But his team’s performance on Sunday highlighted just how equipped this group is for a deep tournament run.

This is the sixth year for Schaefer in Austin. His tenure has been a clear success: In his first five seasons, Texas has seen four Elite Eights, and it’s fresh off a trip to the Final Four. This will be the third consecutive season in which the Longhorns have earned a No. 1 seed. Yet there has been a feeling here of a team perpetually knocking on the door. Texas has consistently been on the precipice of establishing itself as a real championship threat. But it has not quite crossed the threshold there.

It feels as if this group has a better chance than any that has come before. Booker, now a junior and among the best players in program history, has developed into a steady, compelling two-way threat. Graduate point guard Rori Harmon is experienced and savvy enough to steer her crew through anything. The combination of Kyla Oldacre and Breya Cunningham are capable of contending with any pairing in the paint. Freshman guard Aaliyah Crump offers a true spark off the bench. There is no obvious weakness here.

As his players climbed the ladder to cut down the net, Schaefer guided each one up and gave them pointers on which bit to cut, how to pose for the cameras, where to put the scissors. There are some programs where the head coach will not approach the ladder until it is his turn to climb. Not Schaefer. He did not want to outsource any bit of the process to a staffer or assistant. “It’s one of the real joys for me in coaching,” he said. “To be able to enjoy that with them.” This group is still new enough to cutting down nets that some of them needed the help. But that may not be the case for long.

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