From left, Texas Longhorns seniors Taylor Jones (44), Shay Holle (10), Rori Harmon (3), and Aaliyah Moore (23) wave to the crowd after the second round NCAA playoff game against Illinois at the Moody Center on Monday, March 24, 2025. In-state counterparts Texas and TCU meet in Monday’s Birmingham Region 3 finale with a Final Four berth on the line.
The region’s No. 1 seed Texas (34-3) seeks the program’s first Final Four appearance since 2003. Elite Eight contests have been a consistent stumbling block for the Longhorns in recent years, with Texas losing in the regional final round three of the previous four seasons.
The 2025 Longhorns have the opportunity to break that streak after a 67-59 win over Tennessee in the Sweet 16. Texas broke a stalemate through three quarters with a 17-9 edge in the final period.
Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer looks for his team to carry the defensive intensity that resulted in Texas’ pivotal fourth quarter into the opening tip against a second-seeded TCU squad that averages 77.6 points per game.
“We’re going to have to be really, really good and on point with what we’re doing and how we’re doing it defensively,” Schaefer said. “And you’ve got to deal with veteran kids. I don’t know how long (TCU center) Sedona (Prince) has been playing, seems like a really long time. Hailey (Van Lith) has been around five years … And they have plenty of other players. You’re going to have to deal with kids (who) can make plays.”
The Texas defense has held opponents to 55.8 points per game, thanks in part to a combination of Rori Harmon and Madison Booker averaging almost four steals a contest together and Taylor Jones blocking 1.8 shots.
TCU (34-3) has clicked offensively this season with Van Lith functioning both as a scorer and distributor, averaging team highs of 17.9 points and 5.5 assists per game. Van Lith, who was part of a Final Four team at Louisville in 2022, drives the Horned Frogs’ pursuit of the program’s first-ever Final Four — starting with TCU’s first-ever Elite Eight.
“I’ve thought about it a lot. Obviously we have a huge game to win. So super excited to get to compete on that stage against two Texas schools,” Van Lith said.
Prince, meanwhile, has been dominant inside at 17.6 points per game on almost 59 percent shooting.
Prince is also TCU’s leader on the glass with 9.4 rebounds per game, and causes problems on the defensive end with 3.1 blocked shots per contest.
With Prince inside on one side and Texas’ Jones on the other, an old Pac-12 Conference rivalry is renewed. But it’s a rivalry built on mutual respect from the two post players’ times at Oregon (Prince) and Oregon State (Jones).
“Now we get to play each other in Texas, which is really cool,” Prince said. “Taylor is awesome. She is an amazing girl. I really respect her. I respect her family. I’ve known her family for a long time. They’re very, very sweet and kind people. It’s been really cool.”
–Field Level Media
