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Dave Wilson
Multiple Authors
AUSTIN, Texas — Rori Harmon has been Texas’ starting point guard for five years and has a pretty good feel for the pulse of coach Vic Schaefer’s team. On Sunday, she said she saw something in Madison Booker’s eyes before No. 1 Texas’ 100-58 domination of No. 8 Oregon.
“I saw something coming today,” Harmon said. “I knew something special was going to happen.”
Then, she saw Booker take over, electrifying the Moody Center, Texas’ home court, by scoring 40 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and adding 5 assists and 2 steals with no turnovers to send Texas to its third straight Sweet 16, where it will face the winner of Monday’s Kentucky-West Virginia game.
“She’s a generational talent,” Schaefer said. “They just don’t come around that often.”
Booker’s evening was not only a career high for her, it was also a Texas record in NCAA tournament games. According to ESPN Research, Booker became just the fourth player to score 40 points and surpass 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the tournament, joining Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (who did it three times), Stanford legend Candice Wiggins, who did it in 2008, and Long Beach State All-American Cindy Brown in 1987.
“I could say I’m really surprised that she did that tonight, but I’m not,” Harmon said. “So I expect to see that moving forward.”
Schaefer said he’s been constantly leaning on Booker to be more aggressive offensively, telling her to “hunt, hunt, hunt.” But he said she’s often hunting to pass, with teammates saying after the game that Booker is unselfish. Late in the game, with Harmon on the bench, Booker passed up looks to find a teammate open for a shot.
“She enjoys the pass as much as the bucket,” Schaefer said. “I’ve had to tell her, ‘Hey, you turned down a 12-footer to get [a teammate] an 18-footer. Don’t do that.'”
Those 12-footers are what makes Booker so dangerous. On Sunday, she shot 8-of-14, or 57%, on midrange jumpers. He said this team has a unique ability to get Booker the ball in spots where she’s unstoppable.
“This team is really, really cerebral offensively,” Schaefer said. “They understand spacing, they understand where each other’s at, and they understand where Madison needs the ball. Look, [she went] 14 out of 21. She’s just a hard matchup for people. She just jumps up over you.”
Harmon led the charge defensively all night, with five steals, and Texas held Oregon to just eight points in the third quarter, pulling away to beat the Ducks by 42, their worst loss in NCAA tournament history. Harmon and Booker combined to score or assist on 64 of the Longhorns’ 100 points, accounting for more than Oregon did as a team.
After the Longhorns’ 44th straight home win, setting a Texas record, Schaefer said the combination of this team’s defensive tenacity with its scoring ability gives it a chance to make a run at Texas’ first NCAA title in 40 years.
“When you make shots like this team can, it’s a whole lot easier coaching,” he said. “If they keep doing that, they’re going to be a tough out.”
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