UT looks like a dangerous No. 6 seed.
AUSTIN – Texas will be a No. 6 seed in the Hemisfair Region in the 2021 NCAA women's basketball tournament, the selection committee announced Monday night. It will face No. 11 seed Bradley on Monday, March 22, at 7 p.m. ESPN2 will broadcast the game. (Venue to be announced.)
With a first-round win, Texas (18-9) would advance to face the winner of No. 3 UCLA versus No. 14 Wyoming on March 24. Firstand second-round games will be hosted by venues in Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos.
Led by overpowering junior Charli Collier, the presumptive No. 1 pick in this year's WNBA draft, Texas looms as a threatening middle seed. And all the attention paid to Texas' 6-foot-5 centerpiece should open up the floor for drive-and-kick attacks and clean looks along the arc.
Junior guard Joanna Allen-taylor and sophomore guard Celeste Taylor averaged a combined 35.5 points and five 3s per game last week in the Longhorns' two Big 12 tournament contests. And graduate transfer Kyra Lambert showed out with a season-high 23 points, six 3s and six assists in an overtime win over Iowa State in the quarterfinals, a positive development after an erratic regular season.
Bradley (17-11) won three games in three days to claim the program's first Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship. Junior guard Lasha Petree (17.5 points per game) and senior guard Gabi Haack (16.5 points) have been weapons all season and have a combined 126 3-pointers.
Texas is coming off a 66-55 loss to Baylor, its third of the year to the Bears, in the Big 12 tournament semifinals. But first-year coach Vic Schaefer was encouraged by the fight his group displayed in two more competitive outings versus the Bears following a hard-to-watch 60-35 loss in Waco on Feb. 14.
“I'm not into moral victories, but I mean I think we've competed,” Schaefer said Saturday after losing to Baylor. “Proud of our kids, proud of our team. Again, this is the time of year you want to be playing well. And I'm excited about next week, I'm excited for these kids. They've worked really hard and they deserve being in the tournament.”
Texas has now reached the NCAA tournament in seven straight seasons in which it has been played. But Schaefer left behind a Mississippi State program that had been to four straight regional semifinals (2016-19) and three straight regional finals (2017-19). The Bulldogs finished as national runner-up in 2017 and 2018.
He knows what's required to survive and advance as well as almost any other coach in this year's tournament. Schaefer's March successes paired with the talent of Collier and her teammates positions Texas as a sort of brand-name “dark-horse,” a team that might sneak up on the rest of the field despite its stature in a Power Five conference.
“When I came to Mississippi State I was fairly comfortable where I was,” Schaefer said during his introductory press conference on April 6. “But I've always looked at these coaching moves that I've made as callings.
“When I went to Austin, I had the same feeling. (Texas athletic director) Chris Del Conte wants to win championships. And quite frankly that's how I'm built. I'm not interested in just being good. I have no desire to be good.”