If you want to beat Texas, you have to stop Madison Booker first. Good luck. Even opposing coaches acknowledge there’s little hope in slowing down the Longhorns star.
\n\nThe Unguardable Booker
\nSo then what is the key to getting past Texas in the Final Four? The first thing you have to understand, when you try to guard Texas star Madison Booker, is that you can’t. This can be frustrating, but it also allows you to focus on the only strategy that works against Booker: plug her ears.
\nYou want her to forget that South Carolina coach Dawn Staley called her “a big guard that can pretty much get her shot off at any given time.” Or that Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin called her “God's gift.” And whatever you do, don’t let her listen to her own coach, Vic Schaefer: “I don’t care if a post player switches off of you or not. Go at them and finish them off at the rim. They can’t do anything with you anyway.”
\n\nPast Encounters with South Carolina
\nIf you are shaking your head because you remember South Carolina smoking the Longhorns in Tampa last April, then you don’t actually remember it that well. Texas jumped out to a 12–4 lead in that game. Staley said later that “Madison Booker was doing a great job coming off screens and elevating and making shots. She was in a rhythm. It wasn’t like she was getting wide-open looks.”
\nSouth Carolina’s big “adjustment” was that Booker got in foul trouble. With Booker on the floor in the first half, Texas outscored South Carolina 19–11. With Booker on the bench, South Carolina outscored Texas 27–16. Texas guard Rori Harmon said later that with Booker out, “We were a little shook up.”
\n\nA Disciplined and Tough Team
\nIt is no excuse for how Texas played in the third quarter, when the Gamecocks started to pull away. But the Longhorns don’t shoot many threes or run a deceptively unconventional offense. After Texas whipped UCLA in November, Bruins coach Cori Close said, “They are a really simple team, but they are incredibly disciplined and tough.”
\nSchaefer just wants his players to play hard, play smart and take good shots, or as he calls them in Booker’s case: shots. “I’ve seen them all go in,” he says. “I’ve seen some of the toughest shots you can take go in.”
\n\nBooker's Strengths and Versatility
\nSometimes, Schaefer thinks Booker takes a good shot when a better one is available: “You pulled up and took a 15-footer and you could have gone all the way to the rim.” But that is not the same as saying she took a bad shot. Booker does not stretch the floor like Caitlin Clark, cover it like Hanna Hidalgo, or tower over opponents like Lauren Betts.
\nShe is 6'1", tall but not tall, and she prefers twos to threes. Theoretically, every major college team has a player who can physically match up with her. But Booker is stronger than Clorox, quicker than Venmo and smoother than jazz. Calling Booker unguardable seems hyperbolic, but Schaefer means it: “You just can’t get to her. You can’t get to her jump shot. You can’t get to her when she’s finishing at the rim.” He implores Booker: “Take it at them. There’s not anybody going to block your shot.”
\n\nStatistical Dominance
\nBooker is an efficient shooter, but her strength and speed are what make her so hard to guard. This season, Booker played eight games against players who finished in the top 25 in the country in blocked shots. She took 99 shots in those games. Those shot blockers blocked three of them—and two of those actually prove Schaefer’s point.
\nAgainst Ole Miss in the regular season, Booker settled for a fadeaway rather than drive to the basket against the Rebels’ 6'4" Latasha Lattimore. Lattimore blocked the fadeaway. In that same game, Booker tried to power through Lattimore near the hoop. She drew a heavy contact, but not a foul, because Lattimore held her position and Booker rammed into her arm. Lattimore got a hand on the shot. Booker scooped up the ball and scored anyway.
\n\nCoaches Acknowledge Booker's Impact
\nThere are more great players in the women’s game than ever before. Booker leads the nation in Coaching Shrugs Caused. Illinois coach Shauna Green said, “We had some great possessions defensively. She just rises up and shoots over you.” Staley said last year that ,“You have to one and a half players.”
\nBefore Texas’s second-round game against Oregon this NCAA tournament, Ducks coach Kelly Graves said of Longhorns guard Rori Harmon: “She’s the one that makes ’em go.” The next day, Booker made 14 of 21 shots and put up 40 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals, and—“Zero turnovers,” Schawfer repeated. “I mean, come on. That is special.”
\n“Because she’s really damn good,” Graves said. “There’s nothing she can’t do. We just don’t have anybody physically that can match up with her.” Booker is way too quick for big defenders and way too strong for quick ones.
\n\nTexas's Transformation
\nIn her freshman year, Texas’s last in the Big 12, Booker played primarily at point guard and finished third in the league in assists. Now she is listed as a forward. Schaefer says she has a “pro body. She’s got a pro frame.”
\nThe story of Texas’s season, the one that will become legend if the Longhorns win the title, is that after a 16-point loss to Vanderbilt in February, Schaefer said they were the “softest” team he had ever coached. The Longhorns have won 12 straight since then, and Schaefer now gushes endlessly about them. But if Texas wins the title, reason No. 1 will be Madison Booker.
\nShe is this team’s weathervane. When Texas played UCLA in November, Booker had 13 points in the first half and the Longhorns built a 20-point lead. In the first 12 minutes of the second half, Booker shot one three, one two and one free throw. UCLA cut Texas’s lead to 10. “She just enjoys the pass as much as the shot,” Schaefer says. “Sometimes she’s so unselfish—to a fault.” Scoring helps the team, obviously, but also, when she shoots: “It doesn’t only open up for me, but open up for my teammates, too,” she says.
\nSchaefer said he doesn’t think he has ever told Booker she has taken a bad shot. Three days before that loss to Vanderbilt, Texas beat a good Kentucky team, 64–53. But Booker took only six shots. Schaefer was appalled. “I’m like, ‘That can never happen again. There’s just no way,’ ” Schaefer said. “I just told her, she’s coming down in transition: ‘Man, you gotta be hunting.’ I get it. She’s such a great teammate. She’s so unselfish. But sometimes I need her to be a little selfish. You gotta go get yours. Especially in transition: She’s a tough matchup coming downhill. You gotta be hunting your shot. You can’t always be wanting to cede to somebody else.” Since that Kentucky game, Booker has averaged 20.5 points on 58% shooting. Nobody has stopped her. Nobody can.
", "meta_title": "Madison Booker: Texas's Key to Final Four Success", "meta_description": "Texas's Madison Booker is a dominant force in women's college basketball. Learn why stopping her is crucial for any team hoping to defeat the Longhorns in the Final Four.", "meta_keywords": "Madison Booker, Texas Longhorns, NCAA Women's Basketball, Final Four, Vic Schaefer, Dawn Staley, college basketball", "ai_summary": "The article focuses on Texas Longhorns star Madison Booker and the challenges opponents face when trying to defend her. It details how coaches and players acknowledge her nearly unguardable skill set and highlights her impact on the team's success. The piece emphasizes that containing Booker is the primary key to defeating Texas in the Final Four." } ```
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