Texas Falls Hard to Louisville in NCAA Second Round

It’s not often that a head coach begins a press conference with an apology.  But that’s exactly what Texas head coach Vic Schaeffer did. 

“I need to apologize to the University of Texas for today and how my team played,” said Vic Schaeffer.   “This university deserves better than that and I’m accountable for that.”

And it’s not often that a head coach cites scripture. 

“You know, we’ve said all along, ‘we give God the glory to victory and we are going to give Him the glory in defeat.’” 

But all this seemed appropriate as the University of Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team fell badly to the University of Louisville Cardinals in the second round of the NCAA playoffs by a final score of 73-to-51.

“You know, the whole game, I don’t think there’s one thing that was disappointing. There was a lot going on that was disappointing,” said Schaeffer. 

Texas forced only two turnovers in first half, missed layups, gave up layups, shot only 35% from the floor, and 10% from distance.   

But coach Schaeffer summed up the problem into a single word: toughness. 

“I mean, toughness has kind of been an issue all year off and on. You’ve heard me talk about it numerous times. I think it’s an Achilles and I think it showed up again today.” said Schaeffer. 

Louisville never trailed in the contest, leading by as many as 27 points.  Texas went toe-to-toe with them for the first 12 minutes, but the Cardinals exploded in the second period, out-scoring Texas 21-to-7. 

The Cardinals shot an impressive 47% from the field and 23% from beyond the arc.  They controlled the both sides of the boards, producing 17 second-chance points, and in the paint, out-scoring Texas 38-to-20. 

Despite the humbling loss, Texas is already looking forward to next season.  “That doesn’t start next year. You know, if we want to get better, it has be to tomorrow and over the entire summer and into the preseason,” said Junior forward Shay Holle.