Rori Harmon proved prophetic the day she scored the most points since an ACL tear ended her 2023-24 National Player of the Year-worthy campaign early.
It wouldn’t always be her night, she said, as it was in a 26-point performance to defeat then-No. 3 UCLA, 76-65 last Wednesday. And when it wasn’t, she needed to impact the game in other ways while maintaining confidence that it could become her night. Because when time is short and Texas needs a bucket, Harmon said she feels it’s “in my responsibility” to take that shot.
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A smidge more than 24 hours later, she led the offense down the court of a tie game in which she had made only two field goals in seven attempts. Her leaning mid-range jumper on the baseline with 0.7 seconds left on the clock secured a 66-64 win over then-No. 2 South Carolina in an SEC teaser.
With that, it’s beyond time to talk about Texas as a legitimate NCAA championship contender and Harmon as a fringe National Player of the Year candidate.
The Longhorns are balanced, deep and own the best wins in the nation, completing the task in a stunning two-day stretch at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas. The only result in parallel is No. 1 Connecticut edging then-No. 6 Michigan. Texas moved up two spots to No. 2 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll after topping UCLA in only two voters’ ballots a week ago, and South Carolina in one.
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“They are really simple,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said. “But they’re incredibly disciplined and tough.”
Texas wins on the offensive boards and limits turnovers. Its 12.7 turnover rate is fifth in the nation and a 1.55 assists-to-turnovers mark is 11th. Against UCLA, the Longhorns dominated the first half, 45-25, with an edge in points off turnovers (12-0) and second-chance points (10-2). The Bruins showed up as shell-shocked in Vegas as they were in Tampa during the program’s first Final Four. Though they competed in turnovers in the second half, they couldn’t overcome the deficit.
In a tighter contest against South Carolina, the Longhorns showcased their depth with a 17-2 advantage in bench points against a squad typically known for them, and despite a seven-player rotation due to injuries. The Gamecocks were a play away from taking the win, a victory in its own for head coach Dawn Staley’s young squad to learn from as SEC action approaches. South Carolina and Texas play again Jan. 15 in a game that could decide the SEC regular-season champion.
Schaefer hesitated to give away his “secret sauce,” but it’s fairly easy to design the copycat recipe. He runs out an All-American backcourt combo of Harmon and Madison Booker, with young floor spacers who can hit 3s when the situation calls, and a sizable frontcourt featuring 6-foot-6 Kyla Oldacre and 6-4 Breya Cunningham. They pushed UCLA center Lauren Betts off the block, forcing her into jumpers (8 points, 4-of-8), and held their own against the Gamecocks’ duo of Joyce Edwards and Madina Okot. (Edwards played in foul trouble and Okot fouled out in the fourth quarter.)
Rori Harmon is leading a Texas Longhorns team that looks ready for prime time after their Players Era Championship win.
(Andrew Wevers/Players Era via Getty Images)
“They’ve got some stuff to them,” Schaefer said of his own duo. “And you better have some stuff to you down there in this league, and they’ve got it. But again, they’ll be the first to tell you, our guards really help play post defense by the pressure they put on the ball. And that’s just a focal point for us.”
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Yet, the Longhorns’ success defensively (and generally) begins with Harmon, a redshirt senior who never transferred in her five-year career at Texas. Schaefer recruited her heavily while at Mississippi State and secured her commitment after taking the Texas job. She became the program’s all-time leader in assists against South Carolina with 777.
“If you are going to build a good program it starts with the point guard,” Schaefer said. “You can have all the size in the world, if you ain’t got any guard play — we proved that tonight — you got no chance.”
In a small sample size, Harmon is out to her most efficient season to date (55.9 FG%), a mark better than even her 12-game junior season. She averaged 14.1 points, 7.8 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 3.1 steals that year, bursting onto the NPOY scene with a 27-point December performance in a win against UConn. While playing with a knee brace a year ago, she dipped back down in efficiency and averaged a career-worst 9.3 points per game.
The brace is out, and vintage Rori is in.
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“I think Rori will be different this year,” Schaefer said following the UCLA win. “Obviously, tonight she was very different. Again, that’s the Rori that was playing two years ago when she got hurt.”
As one of the game’s best two-way players, she’s stymied a laundry list of WNBA talent, including Paige Bueckers and Hailey Van Lith. Texas sports performance coach Zack Zillner, who aided Harmon’s ACL comeback, described her to Yahoo Sports last spring as “our little pit bull.”
The comparison is apt for a player whose head coach consistently describes her as defending as though she’s “you-know-what like stink on you-know-what.” Pit bulls, an umbrella term for several dog breeds, are notorious for treating personal space as an invitation. They can be persistently annoying, trailing their human everywhere as if tied on a string. And they’re loyal.
Harmon thrives at all of it, busting up actions while setting the tone for the new No. 2 team in the nation.
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Player of the week: Audi Crooks, Iowa State
The 6-3 junior center scored a single-game school-record 47 points to lead Iowa State in a 106-95 win over previously undefeated Indiana on Sunday. She held the records with 43 earlier in November, having broken Tonya Burns’ mark of 42 set in 1984.
Her 19 field goals are also a school record, and, as is almost always the case for Crooks, she did so efficiently. She went 19 of 25 from the floor and 9 of 11 from the free-throw line in 33 minutes. The 47 points are this season’s player-high, besting Hannah Hidalgo’s 44.
Honorable mention: UCLA senior Gabriela Jaquez (29 points, 5-of-6 on 3s) led a 99-77 win over Tennessee at home on Sunday.
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Stat of the week: LSU’s streak, again
LSU extended its NCAA-record streak of 100-point games with a 112-35 win over Washington State on Saturday. Their 112 points-per-game average is better than six NBA teams, and seven players are averaging double digits. But the streak may end here.
LSU plays its first and only true non-conference test when it heads to Duke on Thursday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Blue Devils, despite a messy start, are a stark contrast in a schedule that so far has a 29% average win percentage that ranks 353rd in DI. LSU’s opponents, on average, are in the first percentile of defensive rating and eighth offensively, per Her Hoop Stats.
There is a bit of history on the Tigers’ side. The 1982 Louisiana Tech team that previously held the record with six straight 100-point games went on to win the inaugural NCAA women’s basketball championship. Kim Mulkey, in her fifth season as LSU head coach, played point guard on that team. And as for their non-con competition, Mulkey notoriously scheduled a paltry slate in 2022-23 when LSU won the NCAA title.
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Games of the week: ACC/SEC Challenge
The SEC is delivering scary times with its NCAA title contenders (Texas, South Carolina) and AP poll stalwarts (eight teams ranked this week). No team has more than two losses. The ACC, meanwhile, is enduring them. Wake Forest is 9-0, and eight teams have at least three losses, including preseason contender Duke. A slim three teams remain in the AP rankings, and most just barely. The annual slate of games between the conferences could prove a window into each group’s success come March.
Wednesday
Kentucky (8-1) at Miami (5-2), 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Virginia (6-2) at Vanderbilt (8-0), 5 p.m. on SEC Network
Auburn (8-1) at Syracuse (6-1), 5 p.m. on ACC Network
Georgia (9-0) at Florida State (4-5), 5 p.m on ESPNU
NC State (5-3) at Oklahoma (7-1), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
Georgia Tech (3-5) at Texas A&M (5-1), 7:15 p.m. on SEC Network
Tennessee (5-2) at Stanford (8-1), 9:15 on ESPN2
Thursday
Florida (8-1) at Virginia Tech (6-2), 5 p.m. on ESPN2
South Carolina (7-1) at Louisville (7-2), 7 p.m. on ESPN
North Carolina (8-1) at Texas (8-0), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
Pittsburgh (5-4) at Mississippi State (7-1), 7 p.m. on SEC Network
Arkansas (7-2) at SMU (2-5), 7 p.m. on ACC Network
Clemson (5-3) at Alabama (7-0), 7 p.m. on ESPNU
LSU (8-0) at Duke (3-5), 9 p.m. on ESPN
Notre Dame (5-1) at Ole Miss (7-0), 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2
California (6-2) at Missouri (7-2), 9 p.m. ET on SEC Network
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Yahoo Sports’ AP Top 25 ballot
1. UConn
2. Texas
3. South Carolina
4. UCLA
5. Michigan
6. LSU
7. Maryland
8. TCU
9. Oklahoma
10. Iowa
11. Baylor
12. Iowa State
13. North Carolina
14. Kentucky
15. Tennessee
16. Notre Dame
17. USC
18. Ole Miss
19. Vanderbilt
20. Michigan State
21. West Virginia
22. Louisville
23. Richmond
24. Ohio State
25. Fairfield
Official AP Top 25
1. UConn
2. Texas
3. South Carolina
4. UCLA
5. LSU
6. Michigan
7. Maryland
8. TCU
9. Oklahoma
10. Iowa State
11. North Carolina
12. Iowa
13. Ole Miss
14. Baylor
15. Vanderbilt
16. USC
17. Kentucky
18. Notre Dame
19. Tennessee
20. Michigan State
21. Washington
22. Louisville
23. Ohio State
24. Oklahoma State
25. West Virginia
