No. 1 Texas Women’s Basketball Dominate William & Mary to Advance to Second Round
No. 1 Texas women’s basketball overcame a slow start to dominate No. 16 William & Mary in the NCAA Tournament’s first round.
Walking into a packed Moody Center with a similar starting lineup from the regular season, only freshman guard Jordan Lee making a surprise appearance, the Longhorns and the Tribe were neck and neck in the beginning. When the buzzer beat to mark the end of the first quarter, Texas was only up by five.
But a spark was lit up between the first and second quarters, and three minutes into the second, the Longhorns had opened a 12 point lead. From then on, it was all Texas.
At the end of the first half, Texas was up by 18.
In her fourth start for the Horns, Lee recorded 13 points, including a perfect performance from the free throw line and three three-pointers. However, the star of the game was, as expected, sophomore forward Madison Booker.
In her eighth double-double of the season, Booker put up 20 points and 10 rebounds. Just behind her was senior forward Taylor Jones with 19. Junior center and the other half of head coach Vic Schaefer’s “two-headed monster” with Jones, Kyla Oldacre also put on a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Close to reaching the triple digits in the last five minutes of the game, every Texas player on the court had contributed with at least a couple of points. Junior guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda became the fifth Longhorn in the double digits when she scored Texas’ 100th point.
The last 10 seconds rolled down as there was nothing left for the Tribe to do. Texas secured the 105-61 win.
Texas will take on No. 8 Illinois, who won a close battle with No. 9 Creighton earlier in the day, on Monday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
