Vic Schaefer gave accolades to center Kyla Oldacre and returning guard Aaliyah Crump on Sunday.
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The Texas women’s basketball coach railed against his team’s inability to corral 50-50 balls. He questioned its toughness after allowing Texas A&M to snag 16 offensive rebounds. He scratched his scalp in frustration while wondering why his guards can’t make a 3-pointer. And he couldn’t understand how the Horns could play so poorly for a half in front of a Moody Center crowd of 10,331.
Texas boat-raced the Aggies 80-35, by the way.
You can go ahead and file Schaefer’s concerns under “First World Problems.”
Texas Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer greets Texas A&M players after his win in the Lone Star Showdown at the Moody Center on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
So the world didn’t end after losses to South Carolina and LSU after all. No. 4 Texas delayed Armageddon, at least for one day. The sun rose on Sunday, Jan. 18 and the Longhorns showed they can still win basketball games. Not that we doubted it before they tipped off against a prohibitive underdog.
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Texas Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer walks the sideline during the game against Ole Miss at the Moody Center on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Texas Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer gives instructions to guard Sarah Graves (6) during the Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M at the Moody Center on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
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The Longhorns (19-2, 4-2 SEC) are right where they need to be. They understand that Schaefer will keep pushing and prodding them to do more because this thing is bigger than beating Texas A&M. It’s about championships. It’s about legacy. He knows what they’re doing right now won’t be good enough to win a national title. There are levels to this and the Horns aren’t optimum just yet.
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One night after the Texas men let one get away in a home loss to the men from College Station, the ladies turned the tables and got things back on track before a spirited Moody crowd. They held the Aggies to three points in the third quarter and enjoyed their first stress-free fourth quarter in awhile.
And yet Vic wasn’t happy.
Texas Longhorns guard Rori Harmon (3) and forward Madison Booker (35) hold the Lone Star Showdwon trophy after the win over Texas A&M at the Moody Center on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
To know Schaefer is to appreciate his unwavering passion, not just for winning, but for winning the right way. He couldn’t concern himself with the fact that the Aggies were missing their 6-foot-5 post Lauren Ware or that they had lost three of their previous four, including a 91-51 home beatdown at the hands of No. 7 Vanderbilt. He has much bigger goals than keeping the Lone Star Showdown trophy in Austin. His team finally got a taste of the Final Four last year and now he’s after a full-course meal in Phoenix come April.
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NO. 4 TEXAS AT ARKANSAS
When/where: 3 p.m. Sunday in Fayetteville, Ark.
TV/radio: SEC Network; 1300 AM.
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For Schaefer, Texas’ approach shouldn’t change depending on the opponent.
“I don’t think we’re playing to a standard,” he said. “I don’t think we’re executing to the standard, and it all falls on me. I’ve got to get them to do and play better. And it all falls on me, and I’ve got to be better as a coach.”
What’s happening in the Texas backcourt?
Schaefer has said more times than we can count that basketball is a guard’s game. And he isn’t pleased. All-America floor general Rori Harmon is still his extension on the court — she’s essentially a coach in her final season of eligibility — but the flow isn’t to his liking. Harmon is finally back to full strength two seasons after blowing out her knee, but the offense has lagged.
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Texas committed 39 turnovers in the losses to LSU and South Carolina and while Harmon only had two miscues in Baton Rouge, Schaefer, visibly unhappy with how the offense was running, benched her for the last two minutes of the third quarter and the entire fourth in favor of Bryanna Preston.
Harmon has been much better over these last two games, but Schaefer remains concerned about the lack of perimeter shooting. The Horns are a national power, but one with an Achilles heel when it comes to 3-pointers. They went 0-for-17 from distance Sunday before Ashton Judd buried one with 36 seconds left.
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The Horns are 2-for-27 from the money line over the last two games. Their 84 makes are the fewest in the SEC, but it should be noted that their 268 attempts are the second-fewest in the league. Texas is built on mid-range jumpers from sweet-shooting Madison Booker, transition buckets off turnovers and putbacks from the big girls inside.
For older hoops fan like me, their style is actually a throwback to how the game was played back in the 1980s.
While Harmon has capably knocked down her midrange jumper lately, shooting guard Jordan Lee is in the midst of slump. She’s making only 37% of her attempts over the last four games and has missed 17 of her last 20 3-point tries.
She couldn’t miss during practice Saturday. “Save some for tomorrow,” Schaefer told her.
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The rims weren’t kind once the Moody lights came on.
Texas Longhorns guard Aaliyah Crump (23) pushes past Texas A&M guard Ny’Ceara Pryor (1) during the Lone Star Showdown at the Moody Center on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Aaliyah Crump can be a difference-maker
Crump is capable of giving the team a lift from behind the arc. And Lee will eventually find her stroke.
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Crump will also bring some needed flexibility to the attack. After playing the first five games, she missed the next 15 with a foot injury. She looked healthy in her return Sunday and went hard on both ends. She led the Horns with 12 points and added six rebounds, four assists, two steals and, most important, no turnovers.
“I played free,” Crump said. “I played like myself and I put in the work leading up to this moment. So I knew that I was ready.”
With Crump back in the mix, Schaefer will employ — depending on the matchup — a four-guard lineup of Harmon, Booker, Crump and Lee with either Oldacre, who pulled down 18 rebounds off the bench, or Breya Cunningham underneath.
“It’s hard to guard all those people now,” Schaefer said. “They can all score out there.”
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It’s the Schaefer dichotomy: terribly frustrated one minute, then more excited than a second grader in the school cafeteria on Pizza Day the next.
He envisions how great Texas can be, but knows the journey will be filled with potholes and booby traps.
It’s the beauty of competition.
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And he loves every second of it.