Third-ranked Texas fell to No. 2 UCLA 51-44 in the NCAA Final Four, ending a remarkable run for a Longhorns program that has quietly become one of the most consistent in the country.
For Rori Harmon, the loss marked the end of a Texas career that no stat line can fully capture. The Houston native walked off the court for the last time as a Longhorn with 977 career assists and 388 steals, both all-time program records. On a night when Texas needed her most, Harmon delivered eight points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals, bringing her career point total to 1,616 and slotting her 17th on the program’s all-time scoring list. She leaves Austin having redefined what it means to be a complete player in burnt orange.
The game itself was a defensive war that Texas nearly won on grit alone. The Longhorns forced 23 UCLA turnovers and held a 14-5 advantage in steals, which is the kind of pressure defense that has become Vic Schaefer’s calling card. Texas limited the Bruins to just 20 points in the first half, and for long stretches, it looked like the Longhorns might suffocate their way into a championship game.
The third quarter told the story of how close Texas came. Down eight with under two minutes to play in the period, sophomore Justice Carlton took matters into her own hands. Texas scored seven straight points that sliced UCLA’s lead to one with 49 seconds left in the quarter. At that point it felt like Texas was on the verge of a comeback.
Instead, UCLA steadied itself in the fourth, and Texas couldn’t quite complete the rally. Kyla Oldacre finished the night with 11 points and seven rebounds, crossing the 1,000 career point threshold in the process. Jordan Lee contributed seven points in the second half, and Carlton’s late-game burst gave her seven as well, but the Bruins made enough plays down the stretch to hold on.
This was Texas’s fifth all-time Final Four appearance and its second consecutive, the first time the Longhorns have strung back-to-back trips together since 1987. Vic Schaefer’s program has now eclipsed 30 wins in three straight seasons, setting a standard of excellence that few programs in the country can match. Coach Schaefer himself made history on Friday, becoming the first coach ever to lead two different programs to multiple Final Fours, having done it twice at Mississippi State before replicating the feat in Austin.
Madison Booker, who scored 738 points this year alone, now sits at 1,969 for her career. She’s just 555 points from the Texas all-time scoring record, and if her trajectory holds, that milestone is well within reach before she’s done. Booker will be returning to the 40 Acres for one more season.
The loss hurts. It’s supposed to. But a program that’s made the Final Four in back-to-back years, built a defense that terrorizes every opponent it faces, and still has Booker coming back has very little reason to hang its head for long.
