AUSTIN, Texas — The eighth-seeded Oregon Ducks had some promising moments early against top-seed Texas during Sunday’s second-round NCAA Tournament matchup at Moody Center.
The Ducks’ offense was clicking, with Sofia Bell, Mia Jacobs, Ehis Etute and Katie Fiso getting involved as Oregon stuck with the Longhorns six minutes into the game.
But Texas is ranked No. 3 in the country for a reason. The Longhorns, 27.5-point favorites over Oregon, turned to forward Madison Booker and their suffocating defense to quickly end the Ducks’ dreams.
The Ducks’ offense became sped up and sloppy, and Booker poured in a career-high 40 points to lead the Longhorns to a 100-58 victory, ending Oregon’s season.
“We’re just not where they’re at right now,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said of the talent disparity between the two programs. “They played well tonight. We weren’t at our best. But I always give the credit to our opponent.”
The game began to slip away in the first half, when the Ducks committed 10 turnovers and trailed by as many as 15 points in the second quarter.
Any chance Oregon (23-13) had to rally in the second half ended when Texas (36-3) turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 62-39 advantage six minutes into the third quarter.
Oregon forward Ehis Etute (35) looks to shoot past Texas center Kyla Oldacre (00) during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) APAP
Oregon missed eight of its first nine shots in the quarter, while Texas made 7 of 12.
The Longhorns won the quarter 28-8 to lead 73-42 after three.
“I think Texas just kind of put together good possession after good possession, and it slowly just kind of crept away from us,” Oregon guard Ari Long said.
Despite the lopsided loss, the Ducks left feeling good about their season and their future potential with several key players returning.
“If anything, this motivates us to work harder in the offseason, because we have a lot of areas to improve in,” Oregon forward Ehis Etute said.
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Booker, wearing No. 35 – formerly worn on the Texas men’s team by Kevin Durant (2005-2007) – played like the Houston Rockets forward, scoring 40 points on 14-of-21 shooting, while adding eight rebounds and five assists.
“Kudos to her,” UO guard Katie Fiso said. “She had a great game against us.”
The Ducks tried different defensive combinations and defenders on the first-team All-America, but nothing worked.
Oregon guard Katie Fiso (2) drives to the basket between Texas guard Jordan Lee (7) and center Kyla Oldacre (00) during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) APAP
“We just don’t have anybody physically that can match up with her,” Graves said.
Jordan Lee poured in 17 points, and Rori Harmon scored nine with six assists.
Texas, not known as a great three-point shooting team, made 8 of 12 from beyond the arc. That helped create space for interior threats, resulting in 32 points in the paint.
Texas coach Vic Schaefer believed that Fiso could cause problems for the Longhorns. She did in the first half, scoring 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. But in the second half, the Longhorns’ defense limited her to five points on three shot attempts. She finished with 16 points and three assists.
The rest of the team proved unable to pick up the slack. Oregon shot 17% in the third quarter and went 5 of 12 in the fourth with the game far out of reach.
Etute scored 11 points with 10 rebounds and Long added nine.
“Today we just didn’t deliver the same amount of composure that we usually have,” Etute said.