No. 4 Texas Longhorns 'Learning Lessons Through Victory'

AUSTIN - Going into the second game in a stretch of four consecutive ranked games, No. 4 Texas dominated its first opponent in No. 24 Vanderbilt and will now face No. 2 South Carolina. The last time Texas played South Carolina, the Gamecocks won 67-50. Since then, Texas has not lost a game and head coach Vic Schaefer spoke to the importance of winning from victory.

Texas has dominated most of its games, winning four of its games by 10 points including a 38-point win over No. 8 Maryland. The Longhorns have also been in one-possession games and came out on top both times against No. 17 Tennessee and Ole Miss.

Schaefer spoke to the importance of finishing tight games, but is still not pleased with his coaching, wanting more from himself but knows the value of the lessons his team is learning. While his team was outrebounded by the Commodores with Vanderbilt grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and 34 total.

"I look out there sometimes, and some of the things that we're doing, I just beat my head in the wall because I feel like that's coaching, and I just don't feel like I'm doing a good job in some areas," Schaefer said. "We just need to be better. You try to convey to them right now that we're learning. We have an opportunity to learn lessons through victory. It is a really, really tough thing to come in here and lose a game about one possession, and you can't do the most basic thing, like block out on a free throw line."

Now, Texas is moving on from Vanderbilt to No. 2 South Carolina and is taking not only the lessons they learned from the seven-game win streak but also the previous loss to the Gamecocks.

Sophomore guard Madison Booker knows her team needs to improve in rebounding, especially in preventing offensive rebounds and sticking together as a team. In Columbia, the Longhorns often looked lost on the court but have moved like a well-oiled machine ever since.

"I think the most important lessons we learned from that game was really learning how to play as a team, learning how to, you know, be patient on both ends of the court, take one possession seriously," Booker said. "I mean, every possession matters."

In the last matchup, Booker was held to just six points.

Madison Booker drives to the basket against Vanderbilt — Feb 6, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Madison Booker (35) drives to the basket against Vanderbilt Commodores forward Aiyana Mitchell (14) during the second half at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Senior Shay Holle has played with the team against many top-ranked opponents and knows the importance of productive possessions. Since that game, when the team gets into tough situations, they have responded well.

"(We know) how much every possession matters and that we can't have empty possessions, turnovers, or bad shots that turn into transition points for them," Holle said. "And I think we've done a lot better job when the other team makes a run, we're responding really well as a team, and we're coming together as a team a lot better than we did back then. And I think that's a really big difference that I've seen, and it comes from like, within ourselves."

Now, Texas will have to make sure it acts on those lessons that it has learned when it comes to game time on Sunday.

The top-five matchup between the Longhorns and Gamecocks will tip off at 1:00 PM and be aired on ESPN.

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