The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team saw their Final Four dream end in heartbreak on Friday night, falling 74-57 to the dominant South Carolina Gamecocks in the national semifinals in Tampa.
Texas held its own early against the defending champions and trailed by only three at halftime. But South Carolina stormed out in the third quarter with a massive 20-3 run, effectively sealing the Longhorns’ fate and putting them in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.
Star sophomore and SEC Player of the Year, Madison Booker, struggled to make her usual impact. She finished with 11 points in 24 minutes, limited by foul trouble and forced to watch the final five minutes from the bench. Speaking to KXAN’s Noah Gross postgame, Booker expressed sorrow over not being able to bring home a title for the team’s veterans.
“I definitely feel bad for my sisters,” Booker said. “It’s some of their last years. I kind of wanted to win it all for them.”
Her third foul midway through the second half drastically impacted her ability to stay aggressive, and it changed the momentum of the game for the Longhorns.
Despite the tough ending, Booker’s sophomore season was nothing short of stellar. She played a crucial role in guiding Texas to its first Final Four since 2003, averaging 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. She’s now positioned as an early front-runner for the Wooden Award heading into next season.
Even in defeat, Booker chose to reflect on the positives from a season that saw Texas overcome major challenges — including injuries to key players Aaliyah Moore and Laila Phelia.
“Sometimes you have to look back and pat yourself on the back,” she said. “We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs this season with A-Mo going down, Laila going down at the beginning of the season. That’s two tough players and two losses we had. You can’t hang your head, we gotta pat our backs.”
Though the season didn’t end with a trophy, it ended with growth, resilience — and the promise of what’s to come.