The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team will be making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2018.
In the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, No. 6 Texas faced No. 3 UCLA on Wednesday night. What started out as a blowout by as much as 21 points in favor of the Longhorns, the game started to get closer and closer as the time went on. However, Texas prevailed in the end and defeated the Bruins 71-62 to advance to the Sweet 16 under first-year head coach Vic Schaefer.
Texas held UCLA to under 10 points for each of the first two quarters. All eyes were fixated on Texas’ Charli Collier and UCLA’s Michaela Onyenwere, but with Collier in foul trouble for most of the game, she was limited to only 26 minutes. Charisma Osborne, Joanne Allen-Taylor and Kyra Lambert each stepped up in a big way as they combined for 57 of the teams 71 points on 50% shooting from the field.
You have shown what the TEXAS FIGHT looks like 🤘
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) March 25, 2021
🗣 @CoachVic_UT pic.twitter.com/DKxgmALCkX
Both teams were in foul trouble in what was a very physical game, with a combined 41 personal fouls (21 Texas, 20 UCLA). The biggest difference in this game was shot selection and shots made.
Texas scored on more of their field goals (51% to 33%) and was also embarrassingly one-sided from beyond the three-point line. The Longhorns shot 35.3% from three and UCLA shot only 5.3% from three, including missing their first 14 three-point shots in a row.
UCLA never led throughout the game and now Texas will advance to the Sweet 16 to face the No. 2 offensive juggernaut Maryland on Sunday. The matchup is schedule for 8 p.m. CST on ESPN.
Scoring Leaders:
Celeste Taylor: 24 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Michaela Onyenwere: 21 points, 5 rebounds
Charisma Osborne: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists