Texas vs. Gonzaga: NCAA Women’s Tournament Preview and Prediction
Here is everything you need to know about Texas and Gonzaga in our Longhorns vs. Bulldogs NCAA Women’s Tournament Sweet 16 preview.
No. 1 Texas (32-4) vs. No. 4 Gonzaga (32-3)
Time, TV: 9 p.m. CT, Friday, ESPN
Location: Moda Center, Porland, Ore.
All-time series: First meeting.
NCAA Tournament results: Texas: def. Drexel, 82-42 (first round), def. Alabama, 65-54 (second round); Gonzaga: def. UC Irvine, 75-56 (first round), def. Utah, 77-66 (second round).
Winner: Advances to the Elite Eight on Saturday.
Projected starting lineups
Texas: F Madison Booker, F Taylor Jones, F Aaliyah Moore, G Shay Holle, G Shaylee Gonzales.
Gonzaga: G Kayleigh Truong, G Kaylynne Truong, G Bryanna Maxwell, F Eliza Hollingsworth, F Yvonne Ejim.
Players to watch
Texas
F Madison Booker
Booker had a big game against Alabama in the second round, with 21 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals as she led the Longhorns back to the Sweet 16 after a one-year absence. The true freshman was the Big 12 Freshman and Co-Player of the Year and took over point guard duties after Rori Harmon suffered an ACL injury in December. Booker isn’t a point guard by trade but grew into the job and she’s the biggest reason why Texas is two wins away from the Final Four. Entering the Sweet 16 she is averaging 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals.
Gonzaga
F Yvonne Ejim
All five of Gonzaga’s starters average double figures and have been vital to the Bulldogs’ season. But Ejim is the player that everything will flow through. She averages a team-leading 19.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. She also dishes out 2.3 assists and has 1.5 steals per game. In her last game against future Big 12 member Utah she had a double-double — 17 points and 13 rebounds. In fact, she’s had a double-double in each of her last four games. Texas has a front line that can slow her down, but it’s unlikely to shut out the fourth-year college player.
Key storylines
Texas
Is this the year coach Vic Schaefer, the Austin native, finally gets the Longhorns to the Final Four? He’s gotten close. In each of his first two seasons he got Texas to the Elite Eight. Getting the Longhorns to the Final Four this season, without Rori Harmon, one of the game’s best all-around players, would constitute a tremendous coaching job. Getting there would be a big deal for the program, too. The program under Jody Conradt was one of the standard-bearers in women’s basketball and it still is — but Texas hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2003. Schaefer, who led Mississippi State there twice, measures success the same way.
Gonzaga
The men’s program gets all the attention it seems. But the women have been NCAA powers for a while now, too. The Bulldogs have won the West Coast Conference title, either regular season or tournament, eight straight years and in all but one season since 2004. The program flexed its muscles with a six-year run in which it reached the Sweet 16 five times, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2011 that ended at the hands of Stanford. Gonzaga’s only losses this season have been to Washington State, Louisville and Portland, the last in the WCC Tournament final. The Bulldogs won the WCC regular-season crown and beat Alabama, Cal, Stanford and Arizona in non-conference.
Prediction
Texas 77, Gonzaga 71. Texas’ defense will give Gonzaga fits. But the Longhorns need to score, too. The Bulldogs have too many offensive weapons to count on a low-scoring game. This could be a Shay Holle kind of game.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
