AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Justice Carlton has provided some critical scoring bursts in some of the biggest games for Texas this season. She has also struggled to stay on the court in others.

The No. 1-seed Longhorns are looking for more consistent scoring punch from their enigmatic forward as they start the women’s NCAA Tournament and March Madness with hopes of bringing home the program’s first national championship in 40 years.

Texas (31-3) opens the tournament Friday against 16th-seeded Missouri State (23-12) with All-American Madison Booker and Rori Harmon leading the way. But it’s Carlton who can give the Longhorns the kind of light-up-the-scoreboard bursts that have stunned opponents this season.

“I need that burst,” from Carlton, Texas coach Vic Schaefer said Thursday. “If I can get her to really invest and focus, she’s an all-conference-type player.”

Ah yes, focus.

Carlton has started 23 consecutive games. She averages a solid 8.7 points and four rebounds. And at her best, she can deliver a game like she had in the Southeastern Conference tournament final when she scored 13 points in the first quarter on 6-of-7 shooting. Texas rolled to its first SEC tournament championship in a blowout win over fellow No. 1-seed South Carolina.

Earlier in the season, she scored 10 points in the first quarter of a win over Georgia, 12 in the first quarter of a win over Kentucky, and nine in the first period of a win over Oklahoma.

“When you can get her to impact a game, like we’ve seen her do at times, it just changes our team,” Schaefer said.

And then there were the quiet games, like her eight minutes, two shots and zero points in a blowout road loss at Vanderbilt, the last game Texas lost. In the eight games since, Carlton’s minutes have ranged from 11 to 31.

She hasn’t posted consecutive double-figure scoring games since December. A quick foul or blown defensive assignment can lead to a quick trip to the bench for long stretches.

But Schaefer keeps her in the starting lineup because he knows that the spark can be lit for an offensive explosion.

“I just need to be more consistent, and it’s hard to admit that,” Carlton said. “My teammates are like, ‘Justice we need to you do Justice today.’”

The consistency part has dogged Carlton since she got to Texas in 2024 as one of the top-rated recruits in the country out of the Houston area.

She started just one game as a freshman, but also had a 30-point game early in the season. Texas made the Final Four for the first time since 2003, but Carlton wasn’t much of a factor. She played just 14 minutes in five games in the tournament.

Carlton said she never considered transferring. She would have had plenty of options. Her title hopes stayed with Texas, where she knows she can still be a critical player in a championship.

“I didn’t think that was fair to me or everybody in my family to just come in and kind of give up,” Carlton said. “I was behind great players last year.”

Bekemeier is Missouri State’s all-around standout

Kaemyn Bekemeier is the do-everything player for the Lady Bears. The junior forward is their leading scorer and rebounder, and had 22 points and 13 boards in an 85-75 First Four win over Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday night.

That win earned Missouri State the matchup with No. 1 seed on the Longhorns’ home court. The Lady Bears at least have their First Four win under their belt.

“We’ll be underdogs for sure,” against Texas, Bekemeier said. “But that’s the way we like it.”

Ducks vs. Hokies

The other matchup in Austin is No. 8 seed Oregon (22-12) versus ninth-seeded Virginia Tech (23-9). A Final Four program in 2023, the Hokies missed the tournament last season after coach Kenny Brooks left for Kentucky.

Second-year coach Megan Duffy has them back again.

“Last year not hearing our name called was a bummer for us,” Virginia Tech’s Carys Baker said. “We took that as a chip on our shoulder.”

Deep history of collective success

Missouri State’s First Four win means that all four teams still in Austin have played in a Final Four in the last 25 years: Texas in 2003 and 2025, Virginia Tech in 2023, Oregon in 2019 and Missouri State in 2001.

“I remember, seven or eight or nine years ago, where we had a bunch of freshmen that made a deep run in this tournament,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “They just didn’t know any better, so the pressure didn’t get to ’em .. . I think maybe there could be a little bit of that in this group. At least that’s what I’m hoping.”