NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL FOUR: TEXAS VS UCLA

April 3, 2026

Vic Schaefer

Rori Harmon

Madison Booker

Kyla Oldcare

Mortgage Matchup Center

Texas Longhorns

Semifinals Postgame Media Conference

UCLA 51, Texas 44

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Texas. We'll begin with an opening statement from Coach Schaefer, then take questions for our student-athletes.

VIC SCHAEFER: Yeah, just want to congratulate UCLA on their win tonight. For us, I thought they played really hard tonight. I thought they were very aggressive, played a lot like we like to play. So again, I thought it was a really hard-fought battle, hard-fought game.

I think we feel like in our locker room we let one get away. I think this one will haunt me as the coach for probably till the day I die. We were 11 for 25 at the cup. I think everybody in the room saw we missed plenty of shots, plenty of three-footers, five-footers. We missed a lot of shots. We couldn't make a shot tonight.

That's been my fear the last three days watching film, was just offensively making sure we had a good understanding of how they were going to guard us, what we needed to do to attack that.

This isn't the place to air out our laundry, but we had more than one occasion where we might have a play called, whether it's coming out of a timeout or even out on the floor, we weren't in the right place. Had people out of position, not in the right place.

Sometimes those things happen on this stage. It's not anybody's fault. For me, I wear the responsibility. It's my job to make sure they know what they're doing and how to do it.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Probably could have gone inside to Ky a few more times. We took a lot of jump shots tonight.

But, again, I thought we had a lot of -- plenty of good looks. You look on the stat sheet, we had 21 more shots, 10 more offensive boards, we forced 23 turnovers. We only had 12. We held them to six points in the second quarter.

We got off to a rough start. We allowed two threes from their four player. Other than that, we didn't play well offensively the first quarter, but we played well enough to win. I think that's what Rori and I have been talking about.

We have a thing we call -- a poem that's called "It's Only One Possession." This was a one-possession game. You can go down the list whether you agree with a five-second call that should have been called, or people falling down in the middle of the floor, us being penalized. A deadpan three that hits the back of the rim and dies in the hole. Some nights, you know, there's things you can't control. We can't control those things.

On a night like tonight, we usually win those games. Rori Harmon has won 137 games in her career. She's won plenty of grind-it-out, 50-to-44 games, plenty. It's part of the cruelty that is the game sometimes. It's the rub of the game.

Again, I couldn't be more proud of my kids. I mean, I want you guys to understand something. I want everybody in the room to write this down. This is a crying shame. So you hear me good. Rori Harmon has scored 1616 points, 977 assists, 659 rebounds, and 388 steals. Not one agency has ever voted her All-American. There's not another player in the history of our game, you hear me, not another player in the history of our game that has had those stats, those four statistics. Not one. She's won 137 games. You might as well get rid of whatever awards you got if she ain't good enough to get one of 'em.

That's a shame. That is a crying shame to have our sport not recognize someone as good as she is, that plays as hard as she plays, and plays the right way.

We'll guard your ass at the city limit and show you the door when she's done with you. You want to talk about somebody that's hard to replace. We may never replace her. The impact she has on our team. But shame on you. Shame on the people because there's not another player in the history of our game, not one, and we've had some pretty good players.

Seen them play in this venue, in the Final Four. They've never done what Rori Harmon did, never. And you know what? I'm going to bet it might not ever happen again.

I feel better.

THE MODERATOR: At this time we'll open it up for questions for our student-athletes.

Q. Rori, obviously hearing Coach Schaefer talk about you, what he feels like you deserve, we also notice you had a passionate hug at the end of the game, walk me through the emotions of that. Can you talk about what he means from your perspective.

RORI HARMON: Yeah, when somebody like Vic Schaefer talks about you like that in that manner, speaks about how tough you play, how much I impact a basketball team and a program, it really does me a lot from the bottom of my heart (tearing up).

A lot of the stuff I did this season, obviously you think about your career, your university, you do it for your teammates and everything, but I've been here for five years with Coach Schaefer. I really wanted to do it for him. It stings a lot, but I'm just super grateful to have been put in this position, to have started the foundation with him at this university and this program.

There's not enough time and words I can really express how proud, grateful I am to hear someone like Coach Schaefer.

Q. Kyla, you immediately make an impact when you come in, make a basket. You largely played Lauren to a draw tonight. Take me through what your strategy was in facing her.

KYLA OLDCARE: My strategy overall was just using my physicality the refs allowed us to play tonight. I wish more of my buckets went in. Overall my size, my physicality, my strength. She had her length to her advantage. I had my physicality to my advantage and being able to bury her and get to the spot where I wanted to, instead of allowing her to push me out. That pretty much was my plan.

Coach told me not to bulldoze nobody, so I tried my best not to. So just being able to also front her, I didn't really do a good job of that tonight either. But when I did, just make sure she didn't get the ball and to deny her so she could stop facilitating her team offense.

Q. Rori, 137 wins, multiple Final Fours, multiple degrees, how do you define your legacy at Texas? How do you want people to think about your time here?

RORI HARMON: I want people to think about my time here with the support I've had. I couldn't do it without Coach Schaefer, the university, our president, my teammates, our coaching staff. I've said this before, but I'm not me without them.

Nothing I do, all the stats, all the statistics that he listed, I can't do any of that by myself and without the tremendous support that I've had here.

It's truly a huge family. Just a lot of people that have your back (tearing up).

Q. Rori, you have given all of us five years of incredible basketball. You're also really effervescent, really positive. As Coach was talking, you were like, We only had 12 turnovers. How do you keep that energy through all your up and downs? What has Rori meant to you guys as teammates?

RORI HARMON: Yeah, obviously after this loss, you're pretty upset and hurt and really angry. I had my moment after the game. I was really mad. I think that's valid. We're very human. We had a whole season and we fought really hard and it was really aggressive, we had a lot of adversity.

But when he listed the stats about the game, all we had to do was make a shot. We had really good looks. Unfortunately it just wasn't our day.

I think the team looks at me and looks at how I'm able to respond and keep my composure. I try my best. I even said at halftime, Just don't play emotional, but we can play with emotion. Just trying to keep everyone together.

But yeah, 12 turnovers against the way UCLA played defensively I think is pretty impressive, so...

KYLA OLDCARE: Rori Harmon is one of the greatest teammate teammates I've ever played with. From the first day I showed up on campus, from my first-ever workout, she was the main one keeping me positive and encouraging me, even though I felt like it wasn't my best day and the workout wasn't going great. She kept lifting me up, encouraging me.

She's always been phenomenal. Even when she's hard on herself, she still comes out and lightens up the team, ignites us with fire to have a great day. Even on the court, when it's not our best day, she still brings us together, even in huddles. Her energy, her fire just shows to us all. That's how we come out and play hard.

Yes, today wasn't our day. She still was the main one, her and Maddy, pushing us, helping us to get an edge and try and come back. Which we did, but we didn't come all the way back. She's such a phenomenal player. I'm glad I've been able to play with her and to call her my PG that I've played with, so... Very many phenomenal.

Q. Madison, are there things you can maybe pinpoint that made this such a tough shooting night tonight?

MADISON BOOKER: I'm sorry, can you repeat it.

Q. Things that made it such a tough shooting night tonight.

MADISON BOOKER: I actually have no idea. Lauren Betts, she's 6'7". It bothered a little bit. But honestly every shot I took, I thought it was going in. I really can't pinpoint something.

But yeah, I think their length and size definitely bothered us a little bit. Yeah, that's really it.

Q. Can you go over the last play when you were trying to make the layup, going up against Lauren. How frustrating was this for you?

MADISON BOOKER: I slipped. That's not the play -- that's not what we wanted it. I literally slipped.

Yeah, I mean, frustrated 'cause the play didn't keep going on, but yeah.

Q. Coach said this is going to haunt him until he dies. How long will this haunt you? What haunts you the most about it besides losing? Maddy, are you surprised you weren't able to get out of that funk?

MADISON BOOKER: I don't know. I just...

RORI HARMON: You got to realize, she's human. She's a basketball player. We want her to take those shots. There is another player on the other team that is 6'7". All eyes go to Madison Booker. Obviously UCLA, they got their win tonight. I truly told Maddy, I don't care. I don't care what your statistics look like. There was plenty of other things that caused us to lose the game, not just because Madison missed her money midrange, 'cause I promise you we'll continue to go back to her, we'll continue to look for her, we'll continue to tell her to take her shot.

So she's going to sit here and be like, This is on me.

No, it's not. It's just not, so... Please give her a break. Thank you.

MADISON BOOKER: I know I didn't finish your question.

Yeah, it kind of did surprise me when I couldn't get out of my funk. It felt like every shot I put up, it felt like it was going to be money. But no, I think my teammates did a great job today at just making sure my spirits were high, my confidence was still high. Every shot, I shot it with confidence.

Yeah, I wished a few more fell in, not just for me but for my teammates, too. But yeah, it did feel kind of weird. I don't know, she can shoot kind of a little bit.

Q. Rori, you are the senior on this team, leader on this team. How have you handled the expectations that you put on yourself or the program put on you or any pressure you had endured this season?

RORI HARMON: Debbie Antonelli once told me that with pressure, it's not pressure, it's opportunity. I kind of took it like that. This is the role I've had for quite some time. Obviously it's been very difficult and challenging, but just throughout the course of my years, this team especially, they made me feel like I didn't have to carry the load all the time. I'm the fifth-year. I've been underneath Coach Schaefer for some time. I'm the point guard.

My teammates never let me carry the responsibility by myself. But yeah pretty much.

Q. Madison, you and Rori are Vic's two biggest recruits. You built something great together. What are you going to miss about playing with Rori?

MADISON BOOKER: Me and Rori were just talking about that. She was hoping that -- we were hoping that we would never hear that question today. He hit it right on the point.

That's my sister. Not much to say about it (tearing up). Just her growth just over the years since I've been here. I mean, my first year coming in, it didn't go as planned. We didn't play a full year together. Her going down with her ACL. Her coming back and being even stronger.

I've learned so much from her. Impact on and off the court. Our relationship we built. There's not many words to describe it. I mean, I will always root for Rori no matter what. I still think she's one of the best defenders in the country. Like Coach Schaefer was saying, I don't think people give her her flowers enough. I think she deserve 'em.

She led this team to back-to-back Final Fours. That should not go unnoticed at all. I wouldn't be me without Rori Harmon. That's a fact. Her record I think is off the charts.

When I first got here, I didn't know what real work ethic was until I met Rori Harmon. We always tell you this story. She's always the first one in the gym, first one anywhere. Work ethic is off the charts. Her passion for her game is off the charts. That's the one thing that really stuck out to me as a freshman. I think that's really helped me now coming into my junior year, about to be a senior next year.

Not many words to describe Rori Harmon as a person, but as much as a super life, but I will always refer, and I love her.

THE MODERATOR: I want to thank you ladies.

RORI HARMON: Really appreciate it.

THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions for Coach Schaefer.

Q. Looking back at Madison Booker's first years with the women's basketball program, what have you seen from her when it comes to her maturity and her progress, especially how special was it to have this type of relationship not only with Booker, especially with Rori as well?

VIC SCHAEFER: Yeah, I said it earlier this year. I think Madison, she's been such a tremendous player, she's got it all. She's a three-level scorer. She's cerebral. She plays hard. She invests in her craft.

The thing I'm really proud of her, her leadership the last few months. The voice in the locker room, the voice on the floor today. Her voice was resonating in our huddles. Her growth has really been special.

She's 555 points from being the all-time leading scorer in the University of Texas. Her jersey, No. 35, will be hanging from the rafters next to KD's if I have anything to do with it. She's really special. She continues to grow.

The thing about her and Rori, they've played off each other for two years. They make each other so much better. They create for each other. I think that's what's been so cool about those two playing together. Madison got thrown in the fire when Rori went down with her knee injury. I think that really helped Madison, to be quite honest, her having to really take the responsibility of being the point guard that year. As a freshman, Big 12 Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, takes us to the Elite Eight.

I think it's really been cool for me to see those two develop that relationship. For Rori especially, she's come to know where Booker is at all times, which is smart, because Booker is a pretty good player and can finish a lot of those passes.

I'm proud of both of 'em. As a coach, you don't take those things for granted. We always think we're recruiting somebody better than the ones we got. That's the goal. Having those two together for a couple years now has been really special for me.

Q. I want to ask you about Rori at the next level. What do you think she can be as a WNBA player?

VIC SCHAEFER: If I had a job in the WNBA, it'd be the first one I'd go get. She can run your team. She has no ego. At that level there might not be enough balls to go around for some of those teams, right? She's not going to be one of those players. She's going to continue to guard and defend and create problems defensively 'cause that's who she is.

She needs to go to the right team 'cause if you're going to ask her to play zone or back off and play positional man, that ain't it for her. Her body will go into shock. But if you want somebody that's going to set the tone, is going to bring it every day, don't care if you're a 12-year vet or a rookie, I'm going to guard your ass, you go get her because she's good.

She can run a team. That's the thing at that level, you got to have somebody that can run the team. At the same time you got to guard her. She's been getting her shot off all her career. Don't look at her and think she might not be big enough. Pardon me for using the A word. Excuse me, ladies. I'm not proud of that.

Q. Rori, is there one characteristic or trait you remember from when you first met her that you still see in her now?

VIC SCHAEFER: Yeah, I mean, everything about her. I've said this a lot. I spent a lot of money at Mississippi State flying on the school plane going to Houston to recruit her to Mississippi State. I had Jazzmun Holmes and Morgan William, two really good point guards, and kind of built the same way: fast, electric, quick, defended, could really set the tempo in transition.

When I saw her in high school, I just saw a continued ability to have a point guard that plays like that. She's still that way today. I mean, she's a medical wonder coming off that injury to be as good as she is, as quick, as fast.

She's another kid that's so cerebral, just really smart. Again, it's hard for me knowing the team I've got. You can start with those two. You can go down there to Kyla. I got a whole team of really good players.

I have no idea why the good Lord picked for us tonight to not be able to make a shot. That's the hand we got dealt, so... We'll move on. I'm really proud of 'em. Again, Rori's been everything I thought she'd be and then some.

Q. We've never seen your offense quite like this. Never could get in a rhythm. Were they doing anything to force Madison off her spot?

VIC SCHAEFER: Yeah, I mean, I think, again, we had plenty of good looks. We had plenty of looks at the cup that we just missed. I mean, we just missed shots. I don't have an explanation for it.

I mean, they got after us pretty good, just like we got after them. But it wasn't like we were turning the ball. We had one turnover at the top of the key that we couldn't defend. That was a big one for us. That put them up 10 late in the third or early in the fourth. Other than that it wasn't like we were just turning the ball over. We only had 12.

Sometimes it just happens. I've been up three nights worrying about it, watching film, because I knew how they were going to guard us. I thought we had a pretty good plan. But obviously I didn't convey that to them. We weren't able to execute some stuff that we were trying to run.

But like I said, sometimes in this moment things happen. We came out of a timeout on two different occasions and people are in the wrong place. So sometimes it happens like that.

Again, I'll wear the responsibility of that. Obviously I didn't convey that to them in the huddle what I wanted and where I wanted it from. What did we say, we were 11 for 25 at the cup?

I do think we could have taken some better shots sometimes. I think we did take some. We talked about in the locker room before we ever played, Hey, we don't need to take hotly contested shots. We're going to get a good look. We got way too many weapons on our team.

That did not resonate I don't think. So again, it happens. We've all seen all my players, you can go down the list of every kid on here that shot the ball, we've seen 'em all make those shots that they took tonight, every one of 'em. We had guards in dribble-drive get to the cup. Betts ain't nowhere around, we can't make a shot. It is what it is.

Again, I have no idea why tonight happened. It's the rub of the game. They could probably say the same thing if we'd have beat them. They probably would say the same thing. We really struggled making a shot.

You look at the stats, hold them to 27% the second quarter, 30% the third quarter. Made seven shots in two quarters. We held them to six and 11 points. That's usually a recipe for success for us.

Tonight was a bit of a struggle.

Q. Rori pretty much gave Madison a message about how she still trusts her. What is your message for Madison and how do you help her grow from this experience?

VIC SCHAEFER: Well, again, as I said yesterday in media, I have the pleasure of knowing what you don't know. I see these kids working every day. I see Madison Booker in the gym with Blair Schaefer getting shots up 30 minutes. Her and Aaliyah Crump are in there 30 to 40 minutes before practice ever starts.

I think the message to my team is you cannot take these opportunities for granted. I don't. I think that's why I'm going to have a hard time with this one. I feel like I let one get away.

We ran some good stuff on out of bounds and got good looks. Sometimes it's just not your night. But trust me, I've already been sitting in the locker room waiting for us to be able to come in here evaluating everything that happened. I go through my playbook of what I called, what I could have called.

At the end of the day it's not like we didn't get some great looks, so... For Madison, she going to be back in this game again. She going to have the same opportunity again.

So sometimes it takes once or twice when you're here before you really find a way and you can convey that to your teammates that, Hey, we got to really understand the opportunity we have in front of us and go execute.

Look, I can't sit up here and y'all can't write it. My kids played their guts out tonight. You ain't never seen a team at the Final Four play defense like that group did tonight, guarding people, denying handoffs, all that. They played their hearts out. Forced 23 turnovers, held the team to 51 points, really about 47 or 46. I think we fouled them for their last four or six points. My kids guarded and played their tail off. I'm so proud of them. I'm just disappointed that we couldn't score a few more points.

Again, I've won those games more than I've lost 'em. If the truth be told, my teams have won those games more than we lost 'em, so... Sometimes it just happens.

THE MODERATOR: We are at time. We want to thank you for your time this evening.

VIC SCHAEFER: Thank you so much for all you do for our great game. Thank you for your coverage. I appreciate you more than you know. Until next time, praise the Lord and hook 'em horns.