Texas Longhorns' Kyla Oldacre Impresses Dawn Staley: 'She's Unstoppable'

AUSTIN -- As the No. 4 Texas Longhorns celebrate ending the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecock's 57-game conference win streak, they have tw players to thank: forwards Kyla Oldacre and Taylor Jones.

The "two-headed monster" -- as head coach Vic Schaefer calls them -- combined for 24 of Texas' 66 points and 12 rebounds.

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said that the dominance of the bigs is what makes Texas so good, and had high praise for Oldacre.

"We had nobody that could stop her," Staley said. "She's unstoppable on both sides of the ball, she's very active defensively and there was not much we could do when she got two feet in the paint."

Oldacre played the entire fourth quarter, and she attributed her success to her mindset and development. She came to Texas to play in big games like this and because she knew that Schaefer could develop her into a better player.

Feb 9, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns center Kyla Oldacre (00) drives to the basket while defended by South Carolina Gamecocks forward Sania Feagin (20) during the second half at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Now, she's a staple in the Texas lineup and her complementary play with Taylor Jones allows the Texas offense to operate at an elite level.

"Just my mindset, my mentality (helped me dominate)," Oldacre said. "I had texted coach Lovato two days prior to when we started preparing for South Carolina, saying I wanted to dominate, and get in the gym extra times and as many times as I could."

Oldacre was a force for Texas and her dominance easied everything for the guards. Both Madison Booker and Rori Harmon noted that it makes their jobs easier knowing they have weapons like Oldacre and Jones under the basket.

While Schaefer has been upset with the officiating Oldacre has been receiving, she's brushed it off, knowing the calls are out of her control. Despite the mass amount of fouls called in this game, Oldacre stayed out of foul trouble, finishing the game with three fouls.

Oldacre knows that she just needs to continue to play her game, and that's exactly what she does. She's known for her toughness down low and Schaefer highlighted that after the win.

"I think for our entire team, you know, one or two people can't do it (all) and so I think our entire team recognizes that. And you know, for our entire team, they know that toughness is very high on my list of needs," Schaefer said. "We cannot compete at a high level at the University of Texas if we don't have toughness and we don't have a competitive spirit."

A transfer from Miami (OH), Oldacre brought both toughness and competitive spirit. She had two steals against the Gamecocks, one where she stole the ball near mid-court and took it to the hoop herself. She had another in a similar spot but gave the ball to Madison Booker who finished the layup.

"Every time she steps on the court, I'm always going to be confident," senior guard Rori Harmon said. "With Kyla and Taylor down there, they're like, Coach says they're the two-headed monster, and they have just been killing it lately. They make it so easy to throw the ball in there, it makes our job as guards just that easy."

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