What To Expect From the Texas Longhorns' Upcoming Top 25 Matchup

The No. 4 Texas Longhorns will face the No. 24 Richmond Spiders on Friday, Nov. 7 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

“It’s really early for us to be playing somebody in the top 25,” head coach Victor Schaefer said in a media availability on Wednesday. “And to be playing somebody, like a Richmond, who plays way different than a lot of (teams). . . we’re gonna have to play really well, (but) I think Monday was a good start for us.”

Richmond Will Bring Heat

UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (51) surrounded by Richmond Spiders players at NCAA Tournament round of 32, Mar. 23, 2025 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

On Monday, Texas women’s basketball opened up its 2025-26 regular season against Incarnate Word with a blowout 123-51 win at home. To which, the Longhorns were able to showcase their strength and offseason progress following their elimination to South Carolina in the 2025 NCAA tournament semifinals.

“(I) thought we made a lot of really good reads, extra passes, things like that, that (we) maybe, in years past (have) struggled with a little bit… so I'm certainly encouraged by that,” Schaefer said. “So we'll have two good days of prep, to get ready to play on Friday night against a top-25 team.”

As for Richmond, they opened up their season on Tuesday with an 83-49 victory over Mount St. Mary's. On the scoreboard, the Spiders were led by forward Maggie Doogan, who secured 13 rebounds, six assists, and 28 points.

However, as a unit, they maintained a three-point percentage of 39.5, forced 17 turnovers and 45 rebounds, which are numbers comparable to Texas’ matchup over Incarnate Word.

The last time these two powerhouses met was December 2024, which resulted in a 65-54 Texas win in Richmond.

“If we play a repeat opponent, I always go back and watch the previous year's game,” Schaefer said. “(At the time) we had a hard time filling our schedule last year, so we had to go on the road and play them, and we had to go in there and play really well, and we did.”

On the Spiders’ offensive front, guard Rachel Ullstrom proved to be the standout player, racking up 20 points and six rebounds; however, on the Longhorns’ front, forward Madison Booker led Texas to victory after dropping 25 points and posting 11 rebounds.

On the defensive side, the pair nearly went tit-for-tat in their last matchup. Despite the Longhorns forcing an additional 13 turnovers over the Spiders, they both applied heavy pressure in the paint to secure over 35 rebounds each. However, Richmond appears to look much stronger this time around.

“(So), we’ll see how it all shakes out,” Schaefer said. “But one thing that doesn't change, they got good players, they got a heck of a coach, and they’re well coached, and they do a great job.”

Led by head coach Aaron Roussell, Richmond posted a 28-7 record in the 2024-25 season and reached the second round in the NCAA tournament but ultimately fell 84-67 to UCLA.

As for this season, it isn’t unusual for the Longhorns to play a top-25 program — both away and at home. Schaefer added that Texas has signed itself up for matchups similar to this one, for this season as well as the last.

“Ain't a lot of people signing up to do these things that we're doing,” Schaefer added. “But sometimes it just comes with the territory, and it's what we have to do, because we're here at Texas.”

Watch the Texas-Richmond matchup on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. CT on SECN+.