This year, the Texas Longhorns‘ women’s basketball team ranked 8th in the nation in points per game (83.9). They hadn’t scored fewer than 65 points in any single game this season. Then, on Friday night — at the worst possible time — they could not find the bottom of the basket.
Vic Schaefer’s squad shot a paltry 31% from the floor versus fellow No. 1 seed UCLA. This poor shooting display allowed the Bruins, who committed a whopping 23 turnovers, to beat the Longhorns 51-44 and advance to the national championship game against South Carolina.
Madison Booker, Texas’ leading scorer, finished the game with a season-low 6 points (3-of-23 shooting). Friday’s Final Four contest marked just the third time in 2025-26 that she scored less than 10 points. Overall, the Longhorns went 20-of-65 from the field, 2-for-9 from 3-point range, and 2-of-5 from the free throw line.
Kyla Oldacre (11 points) was the only Texas player in double figures. UCLA had four different players crack double-digits. Bruins center Lauren Betts, the Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, was the best player on the court, posting 16 points (7-of-10 shooting), 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks.
The Longhorns’ loss represented their second straight defeat in the Final Four. The Bruins will battle Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks for the national championship on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
