Texas Longhorns Set for Rematch vs. Hailey Van Lith After Viral Scuffle

As the Texas Longhorns advanced to their fourth Elite Eight in five years, the TCU Horned Frogs advanced to the first one in program history. The Horned Frogs have had a monumental turnaround this year, going from forfeiting games due to too many injuries and having open walk-on tryouts to winning the Big 12 and reaching the Elite Eight.

Texas head coach Vic Schaefer had high praise for TCU head coach Mark Campbell and his team.

"Coach (Campbell) has done a great job with them, and they've had a heck of a year, so we're obviously going to have to play well," Schaefer said. "They're on a hot streak themselves. And, you know, they have great players. So they have players that can make plays."

The Horned Frogs are led by point guard Hailey Van Lith and center Sedona Prince, two players who are very familiar with Texas. In 2018, Prince started her college career at Texas and in 2022, Van Lith and her Louisville Cardinals upset the Longhorns in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Van Lith famously had a post-game "scuffle" with former Longhorn Sonya Morris, but said that it was just the heat of the moment in the post-game press conference. Prince, an Austin-area native, spent just one season in Austin, redshirting after a broken leg and then transferring to Oregon.

Take a look at the video:

Hailey Van Lith and Sonya Morris getting into it some in the handshake line? 👀 #MarchMadness
🎥: @jessicawinslow pic.twitter.com/1IgTS0upRc
— Tyler DeLuca (@TylerDeLuca) March 21, 2023

Though this is TCU's first Elite Eight appearance as a school, Campbell used the transfer portal to his advantage, and his team has five players who have reached the Elite Eight at least twice. Van Lith is now playing in her fifth Elite Eight, leading her third team to that milestone. Fellow Horned Frogs Madison Conner, Agnes Emma-Nnopu, Donovyn Hunter, and Taylor Bigby have also made apperances at this level of the NCAA Tournament.

"That's the thing you have to acknowledge when things break down, they have players that can go make a play, and that, in and of itself, is problematic," Schaefer said. "Sometimes you can go through everybody's sets, which we do. My staff is so good and so thorough, but you know it when you have to deal with somebody that can go make a play, that becomes problematic, and TCU can make plays. So we're going to have to be really, really good and on point with what we're doing and how we're doing it defensively, and then offensively, we've got to take care of the ball as always."

The Longhorns also have hoards of experience at the Elite Eight level, with Shay Holle playing in her fourth Elite Eight as a Longhorn and the rest of the veterans making an apperance in at least their second. Even with the success of making it this far, the Longhorns won't be satisfied with just an Elite Eight apperance.

Texas Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer embraces guard Bryanna Preston (1) after winning the NCAA Playoff Regional semi-final game against the Tennessee Lady Vols 59-67 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham Alabama, March 29, 2025. The Longhorns will advance to the Elite Eight round, playing against TCU in the Regional Finals on Monday. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Schaefer has said all season that he thinks this team can win a national championship and he knows not just how badly he wants it for his players but how badly his players want it for him. The Longhorns have one national title as a program, becoming the first team to go undefeated in a season in 1987, winning with a perfect 34-0 record.

"Well, that record of 34-0, as you know, hangs in my practice gym is pretty big, hanging up there, and it looms over the court," Schaefer said. "Obviously, that was a team of excellence, and it's what we're chasing. Anytime you win that many games in a season, going undefeated in that team, that group was so special and so dominant. I mean, that was a day and age in the Southwest Conference when they were just a dominant program. And so it's certainly something that I'm aware of. I think I made mention of it last night that this team has tied that record for wins in the season. And so it is something that we acknowledge, and we see it every day in our practice gym. You know, just like Coach Conradt, we're all trying to chase that greatness."

Schaefer and his Longhorns will take on the TCU Horned Frogs on Monday at 6 p.m. from Birmingham. The game will tip off on ESPN and both teams are looking for their 35th win of the season.