NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - OREGON VS TEXAS

March 22, 2026

Vic Schaefer

Rori Harmon

Madison Booker

Jordan Lee

Sarah Graves

Moody Center

Texas Longhorns

Media Conference

Texas - 100, Oregon - 58

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from Coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.

VIC SCHAEFER: Oh, man, holy Moly. Just giving God the glory for number 33. What a blessing this team is that he's blessed us with, blessed me with. And if you didn't see his flame in these kids today watching them play, how well they played, you ain't watching. Just so proud of our kids. They will tell you, we've had two days of prep. We have a lot of respect and admiration for that team, for those players. We worked really hard on trying to guard them a little bit. About last night at midnight I probably figured I had kind of thought to myself, you know, we might need to out score 'em. I was really concerned about trying to guard 'em, because we have so much respect for Fiso and Etute down low and man, they executed, our kids made shots today, they executed some really good stuff. It was fun. I mean that crowd, man, I don't know, y'all, there may be some great crowds some other places, but the lid about blew off that place today a couple different times. Just really special for our kids. I mean that's, it's part of building it, it's part of building the program, it's building your fan base, but I got a feeling there's going to be people at the water coolers this week talking about today. If they were in the gym, if they were in this building today, just talking about these kids and how special they are, how hard they played today. What a great way to send Rory out after five years here. Booker had 40. I don't know that I've ever had anybody -- you'll have to look that up. I don't know if I've had anybody get 40 before. It would be one of two. It would be either Victoria or Big T.

But just really executed well. We gave her the ball where she needed it. It's the second time now she's gone 14-21 in a game. Just got some great looks for her. I thought our kids executed. Jordan's a little unhappy. She thinks the assists are out of whack. She only has two down and she thinks she has 20, I think.

But just proud of our kids. Again, Oregon had our attention. These kids really came in and did a nice job in preparation. Elena Lovato was in charge of the scout and she was all over it and then some. So I'm just really proud of these kids. They just played their hearts out today. I know everybody in Longhorn Nation's awfully proud of 'em too. So on to the next one. But what a day, really. What a day for these kids and this building with these fans. Pretty special, y'all.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Rori, you are an undeniable Longhorn legend. You have Jody Conradt in your last press conference here in Austin. Can you talk a little bit about the legacy you just left and the legacy that you're going to get to see play out with guards like Jordan and others that are still on the team?

RORI HARMON: Yeah, I'm super grateful to have -- Coach Schaefer recruited me here, honestly, and stuck with me. That's kind of where it all started. He told me on the phone when he was recruiting me that -- he's like, I want you to be able to leave a legacy here, and to that day that's, honestly, stuck with me every single day. My loyalty remains here and to him. So I'm super grateful.

I've played with so many great teams along the side. I felt like we got better each year. I feel super close to my teammates. They make me feel on top of the world when certain things like this happen. So, yeah, I can say it's over, but it's really not. So the job's not finished and we're going to continue and try to get some more wins.

Q. What did those last couple minutes mean to you here at Moody?

SARAH GRAVES: The coolest thing was just hearing the crowd yell for everybody and taking a second to honor Rori Harmon and what she's done for not just for the University of Texas, but for the state of Texas, for women's basketball across the country was really cool. I think our entire bench was starting to tear up looking at her wave to the crowd and seeing them appreciate all she's done. It's not just what she's doing on the court in the basketball games. It's in the community, in practice gym every day. She's changed our university forever. So I don't know, it's all about Rori Harmon for me.

RORI HARMON: No -- thanks, Sarah. It means a lot. Like I said, she's always giving, never expecting anything. No, to stand out there with all those fans, I tried so hard not to be emotional, which I think I did good, and then I started answering questions about what it means.

Like I said out there, we started With 2,000 -- maybe not even 2,000 fans at the Erwin Center, and those -- I made great relations and I met so many people, and I still remember some of those people that showed up that day, and now we're, like, at 10,000 to 11,000 fans in the Moody Center.

So to see the growth of women's basketball in general, it was just a great moment for us seniors, especially me and Sarah. We've been here for four to five years together, and so it's just great to be able to see the appreciation the fans have for such great people and humans.

Q. Madi, you were in the zone almost immediately. You were smiling on every shot. Can you just take us through what a day like that feels like? And then for Rori, Jordan, Sarah, watching that, what was going through your mind?

MADISON BOOKER: I don't know, I feel like I've spoken about this a lot this season. I think Coach Schaefer has really just pushed me into taking just a bigger role, just being aggressive on the offensive end, finding my shot, hunting my shot. That's all he says in practice is hunting my shot.

I think my coach did a great job just drawing up plays and putting me in the right position just to score the ball easily, kind of. Plus my teammates did a great job too. I can't do it by myself. It's not one on five. It's five on five out there, and they did a good job just giving me the ball at the right spot, cutting, the details on the plays. So all credit to them, for sure.

VIC SCHAEFER: She had 40 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and --

MADISON BOOKER: Zero turnovers.

VIC SCHAEFER: Zero turnovers. I mean, come on. That is special.

RORI HARMON: Oh, yes, I've never seen that, so I'm --

VIC SCHAEFER: Would you like to see it again?

RORI HARMON: Yeah, I would like to see it again. I like the aggression. I can tell with the look in her eyes when she's locked in, for sure. So I saw something coming today. I knew something special was going to happen. Whether she was going to get a quadruple double or a 40-point game, I saw something in her eye. But she's very unselfish and a very humble player. She's a great teammate, and I think that's the one thing that we pay attention to.

40 is a great number, but us as teammates, like, we just really appreciate how good of a person she is and a player and a teammate. So I could say I'm really surprised that she did that tonight, but I'm not. So I expect to see that moving forward.

Q. What kind of impact has Rori made on you not only in your game of basketball, but as a teammate?

MADISON BOOKER: I can go on and on about Rori Harmon, honestly, and just the legacy she has here at Texas. When I first got here -- honestly, before I got here, I wanted to play with a good point guard, and that was her. And that really kind of just made my decision just lock in, for sure. When I met her on my visit and just, you know, seeing the type of person she was off the court, I think that's a big thing to when you just were trying to look for a teammate.

But, no, I mean, she works so hard. When I first got here, I didn't realize what hard work was until I seen Rori Harmon in the gym every day before our practice, after practice, getting shots up. So I feel like she's pushed me. Then I think that journey here together, it's just a sisterhood, honestly. Like, we're sisters. I have her back. She has my back, for sure. I'm going to miss playing with her. It's going to feel so weird. I don't know. I really want her to stay another year (laughing).

I mean, the things she's done on the court I've seen, like, I don't see it from nobody else. I truly do think she's one of the best point guards in the country in college basketball. She has a legacy here. People want to play defense because they see her play defense. Like, that's -- like, that's a movement right there. But just, you know, how she make this team go, how she really impacts this team, honestly, just playing hard. And everybody sees that and we all want to play hard. We want to play like her, basically. But, no, she's a big impact for this team and I'm going to miss her, miss her dearly.

Q. Jordan, this is for you. I was watching you in pregame and you were hitting every shot, and I realized what you're doing in practice is probably going to happen in the game. What was the preparation that you saw from your other teammates this week leading up to this? What did Madison have for breakfast, for crying out loud?

JORDAN LEE: So Madison ate breakfast with me, so that's probably part of it. Other than that, everybody's been consistently in the gym. That's something we love to see, and we hold each other accountable, whether we're joking and telling one another, We haven't seen you this week. And so we've been consistent and we know that the three ball's always a great addition and it spreads the floor. And, yeah, 75 percent today, Coach Schaefer, and so we're all -- oh 67, excuse me, my math is off.

VIC SCHAEFER: We're still thankful.

Q. Rori, the defense, the matchup with Fiso today, it seemed like y'all were getting into it, having some fun. You had four steals, like, in two minutes. Talk a little bit about the intensity out there and the message you wanted to send.

RORI HARMON: Yeah, she's a great player. I was talking about her earlier when I was asked about her. She's a very elite player, and watching film on her, she's really good at changing speeds and changing her level, hesitation, reading the ball screens. So I think that's very, very elite and hard to guard. So that was, obviously, our main focus today, just trying to limit her touches, limit her just doing anything.

But yeah, that's my assignment, so I take pride in playing defense. I don't do it by myself. Like Book said, I feel like when I do go really hard on the defensive end, my teammates do follow along the majority of the time. So it is fun. It makes us go on runs, we force turnovers, we get transition layups, get transition threes, so it just makes the game more fun.

Q. Sarah, this could be your last game at the Moody Center. You walked over and hugged and thanked all the fans in the student section afterwards. Walk us through your decision to do that.

SARAH GRAVES: I mean, the entire crowd is unbelievable. You can see the joy in their face from the opening tip to the end. So I don't know, I just got really emotional thinking about everything that they have poured into us throughout the year, and what we do is really, really hard. Like, practicing every day hard and pouring your heart out in practice is draining, and so to see them pour into us and support us is what keeps us going.

So if we can have joy in practice and get joy from the students, then basketball become as lot easier. Coach Schaefer always says positive energy, stay competitive, and team first. And positive energy starts at the Moody Center and positive energy has been there all year long. So we can't thank them enough and we hope to see some of them in Fort Worth.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. We'll take questions for Coach.

RORI HARMON: Oh, this is my last one in here? I just realized this is probably my last time doing this, but thank you so much for covering me for my career here, and I really appreciate you guys for really getting to know me as a person and as a player.

THE MODERATOR: Well said, Rori. Thank you very much. Now we'll take questions for Coach.

Q. In case you were wondering, T and Morgan both had 41-point games for you.

VIC SCHAEFER: I remember Morgan's.

Q. Charli had a 44-point game here. Teya tonight, how big was she just getting those 11 for you guys?

VIC SCHAEFER: Yeah, huge. You know, she was so big, was 4-4 at halftime. But I've got that three-headed monster at 4, and Teya's been practicing well, and you see that. She kind of moved up in the pecking order. It's a very fluid deal, those three. And Justice started, struggled a little bit defensively. Brought Teya in and, man, she was really good. But that's how she's been practicing. It's a fine line, her and Ashton are both seniors and they're both kind of right there, but Teya's just, I just had a feeling with her and, man, she was really, really special, played so hard, got six rebounds tonight for us, three offensive. Had 11 points, three assists, only one turnover and two steals and 5-6 from the floor and 1-1 from three. So the kid was money. I mean she was special. And, you know, she is such a great kid. Y'all had no idea how good that kid is. Like she is, she's amazing. And I have a bunch of 'em, and all of my kids are really amazing. I've been blessed with such an incredible team. But at the end of the day yeah, I call her Smiley, because that's all she does, she just smiles all the time. Yesterday in practice she caught the ball at the heart and she just stood there with it for a minute, we were going against a zone, and she hesitated. And the whole team's hollering at her, attack. And I just kind of stopped, I said Teya, like I have no idea how you're the all time leading scorer in the history of Utah basketball, because she's just, she's kind of that affable, kind of, she just -- sometimes you got to get that motor going a little bit with her. She's just a great kid. So I was really happy to see her play well tonight. She made a big difference.

Q. I know you still have a number of games in front of you to even get to a national title game, but what would it mean to you to be able to get there and compete for a championship with this group?

VIC SCHAEFER: Well, I mean this is why, you know, this is why we do what we do. Quite frankly, this is probably you get evaluated more on this time of year as a coach than any other time during the season. You can win the championship, the conference championship, the tournament championship, but this is the time of year when you got to earn your keep. With this team, how special they are, they're good enough. I keep telling 'em, they're good enough. My bible study today was run toward your, toward the things that you're worried about or you're concerned about. And I was concerned about pick-and-roll defense today. I told Kyle, I go, hey, this was in our pregame talk, I said hey we're running toward that. Like we're not -- and I had actually pulled the kids into the practice gym and walked through at 3:05, I walked through a different defensive strategy in case we were struggling. I was that worried about it. Because, again, I've got history with this team and what they do and how they do it. So I had -- I just had to have something in my head in case I had to go to it, and I wanted them to actually know what I was talking about. But I thought we ran to it today. I thought we really, we ran to what we were concerned about and we accomplished what we wanted to defensively. And then offensively, I mean you talk about -- let me tell y'all something about coaching. It's a whole lot easier coaching when you make shots. And I've been on the other side of that when you're living and dying with every stinking defensive possession, just trying to grind out a 63-58 win. When you can make shots like this team can, it's a whole lot easier coaching. And that's what gives this team I think the chance. I mean they keep doing that, they're going to be a tough out.

Q. I know you get to see the tough part about the job as well as a coach and you got to see behind the scenes of Rori's recovery, saw her and Doug have that moment. From your perspective what has this time been for her to get back to this point and have this moment today and just see the embrace that those two shared today?

VIC SCHAEFER: Well, as I told Doctor Owens, if that's not his best work I want to see it. Because Rori Harmon is special, and she is -- the way she plays, the torque that she exerts on those legs, the energy that she plays with, and she's, obviously she's carefree, she ain't worried about it. But that's the confidence that she has. And between her, Doug Owens and then our people here, Mr. Harden and our people in the treatment, in the recovery and the rehab, like please, show me somebody that's better than her to come off that injury that she had. Because she is, she's special. And I wanted Doctor Owens to know how much how much appreciate him. I mean those guys, very rarely is anybody -- and first I was the first one that told him and then I told Rori she, you know, to come down there and of course she's, they're both kind of misty eyed a little bit. And rightfully so. Because we all hate to go through that. I mean it is, man, as a coach it's so hard. And it was really difficult with her, extremely difficult. But to see today and see how she's played all year, she's another honorable mention All-American again. And you talk about special? Incredible. What a story.

Q. We've talked about Rori, we've talked about Teya, obviously we have to talk about Madison. 40 points today. How dangerous is this team when she performs like that and how do you keep getting performances like this from her?

VIC SCHAEFER: Well, 40 points, eight rebounds, five assist, two steals, no turnovers. I mean, that's what an All-American does, but, man, she is, she was in a zone today. It's like Rori said, she just, she had that look about her, and I was, I -- I have my play card, and I'm getting so where I can't even read it. I got so many on here, and so then have I to go to my mini play card, which still has 50, you know, or 30. But a lot of 'em had to do with Madison. And we really wanted to try to go inside today a little bit. We didn't do it very well. But when you get somebody like Madison hot, I mean you got to try to empty the playbook for her. And our kids did a great job. When they went zone, Madison's got certain spots on the floor, it's just hard to keep her from scoring from. And our kids understand that. Like, this might be the best team I've had offensively that they understand, they understand how to get the right person to guard them so that the person we're trying to get 'em the ball will be open. Does that make sense? It's like there's just certain plays aren't going to be open if you let 'em guard you a different way. So Jordan Lee's a prime example. She gets it. And that's why she's upset. She thinks she had more assists than two. But this team is really, really cerebral offensively. Like they understand and they understand spacing, they understand where each other's at, and they understand where Madison needs the ball. I thought we ran some really good stuff, got her some really good looks. And, look, 14-21, she's just a hard matchup for people. She just jumps up over you. She got fouled, went to the line 11 times. Again, she's a generational talent. They just don't come around that often.

Q. Just to follow-up on that, Madison said sometimes she said that you've actually pushed her to be more aggressive on the offensive end. As good as she is, as everything she can do, do you ever just look at her and say, hey, do more?

VIC SCHAEFER: Well, I mean she will tell you, in practice, like I'm like, and it's just some days, some days -- you can't be -- and I've had to learn this, and it's really hard. But every day is not going to be their best day. But I have, in practice, I'm constantly telling her, especially in transition, hunt, hunt, hunt. Because she will come down and she's not hunting, she's hunting to pass. I want her to hunt to go get a bucket. But she is such an unselfish kid, she enjoys the pass as much as the bucket. And sometimes -- you know, I've told her, I've had to tell her, Hey, you turned down a 12-footer to get her a 18-footer. Don't do that. But she's just such -- you heard 'em all, they're talking about what a great teammate she is. But again, she know joys that as much as anything else. So, again, she's just a really special kid, but when you got Rori now making shots and you got Jordan Lee over there going 7-12, 3-6 from three. Man, this is a group that's hard to deal with. When Justice is doing her deal, today we had Teya, okay. As long as I can find one of those four players that can function, we're going to be okay. My two headed monster down low, my five players, they didn't score that much, but they did a good job on Etute defensively. And I'll take that. So again, I'm really happy for these kids. I am so appreciative of our fans, for the atmosphere they provided today, for these kids, and I'm proud of these kids for how hard they played the game today. They know that's really important to me. I think that's why we built the fan base we've built. These fans don't come here to watch these kids stand around in a 2-3 zone playing hope-you-miss defense. They come here watching them play their guts out and what an incredible day today for these kids and I couldn't be more proud of 'em.