Madison Booker Is a Serious Problem for the Rest of the NCAA Tournament

What a difference a game makes. Just two days ago, Texas forward Madison Booker, donning the “Orange Crush” KD19s in honor of her favorite player and former Texas star in Kevin Durant, got off to an uncharacteristically slow start in the Longhorns’ first round win over Missouri State. She went scoreless through the game’s first five minutes.

On Sunday, in the Longhorns’ dominating 100–58 win over Oregon in the second round, Booker put on a performance that would make Durant want to wear her sneaker. From the opening tip, Booker was a problem. The All-American ran around an off-ball screen under the basket along the baseline, caught a pass from guard Rori Harmon and popped a midrange jumper—her specialty—for her first basket within the game’s first minute. The game may as well have been over at that point.

Moments later, Booker had drilled another. And another. Like a lethal assassin, Booker continuously probed the weak spots in the Ducks’ zone defense en route to a 14-point first quarter, her highest in a first period this season.

Booker was at her best in the third quarter. After the Ducks had cut the Texas lead to 11 points heading into locker room at halftime, Booker and the Longhorns turned the game into a laugher, outscoring Oregon 28-–8 in the period. Booker’s fingerprints were all over the quarter.

MADISON BOOKER AND 1 🤘😤

📺: ESPN #HookEm pic.twitter.com/OpbNXA7ith
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) March 22, 2026

She found Harmon for a bucket to get the scoring started. Moments later, she drilled a 13-foot step-back jumper. Then, with Ehis Etute draped all over her, Booker knifed into the lane, absorbed the contact and got a shot to fall and a foul, draining the foul shot. After that came a ridiculous fadeaway midrange jumper with two Ducks on her, followed by another and-one at the rim, during which Booker put her head down and beat the Ducks to the rack.

She put an excalamation point on the quarter scoring binge with a three-pointer from the top of the key right between the eyes of a Ducks defender. Booker single-handedly took over the game.

“She’s really damn good,” said Oregon coach Kelly Graves. “There’s nothing she can’t do ... She’s an All-American for a reason. And she played like it tonight.”

When the dust settled, Booker had scored a career-high 40 points and set a Texas women’s basketball record for the most points scored in an NCAA tournament game.

She got Texas a bucket whenever they needed one. She commanded defensive attention from the Ducks and dished out five assists.

“That’s what an All-American does, but man she was in the zone today,” said Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer.

Schaefer told reporters that he keeps two play cards in his back pocket, one of which contains 50 plays. He said the majority of them involve Booker.

That’s the kind of player Schaefer has. An unstoppable offensive force equipped with a you-can-take-that-to-the-bank midrange shot that will always be a good one for the Longhorns, no matter the game, no matter the opponent. When you factor in the Longhorns’ disruptive defense, ability to microwave turnovers into baskets and the way they were shooting the three-ball, it’s no wonder the game got so out of hand for the Ducks. Schaefer acknowledged during his presser that this might be the best offensive team he’s ever had with the Longhorns.

The biggest—and simplest—reason why may just be because Booker is the kind of problem for which defense isn’t a solution.

More March Madness from Sports Illustrated