NCAAW: Texas Longhorns play LSU Tigers in critical SEC matchup

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The No. 5 LSU Tigers (25-1; 10-1 SEC) will play the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (25-2; 11-1 SEC) this Sunday, Feb. 16 in a matchup between two of the top teams in the SEC. The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

It’s the Longhorns’ first season in the SEC after nationwide conference realignment changed the landscape of the NCAA, and it’s hard to imagine things going much better. With just one conference loss on the season and a No. 3 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll, the Texas program has not only sustained the success it enjoyed in its final years in the Big 12—it’s continued to improve, and much of that improvement has come against the fiercest competition.

The Longhorns are currently in the midst of a grueling stretch of games in which they play four-straight top-25 opponents, and they’ve come out on top in each matchup so far. Sandwiched between wins against No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 8 Kentucky was a season-defining victory over No. 2 South Carolina, one that ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck said “put Texas on the map” as a championship contender. South Carolina has been the unquestionable gold standard in the SEC for several years and had previously beaten Texas earlier in the season, so for the Longhorns to bounce back and defeat the reigning national champs shows that they’ve truly arrived.

“We’ve got a lot of hype around our names now,” said Longhorns wing Madison Booker, who was named the SEC Player of the Week and is currently on national watchlists for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy. “We have to have a mindset of, ‘We’re not satisfied.’ We’re still going for a different goal, not just one win.”

Regardless, if Texas keeps stacking wins against ranked opponents, it’s going to be hard not to include the Longhorns in that conversation. They’ll get another such opportunity against LSU in a game that figures to be extremely physical, even by SEC standards.

“They’ve got great guard play, they’ve got a monster [power forward] in [Aneesah] Morrow … they’re really physical, really tough, and if you don’t bring those two things to the game, the rest of it really doesn’t matter,” said Texas head coach Vic Schaefer of the Tigers, who are one of the few teams in the country that can match the Longhorns in the less glamorous phases of the game.

According to Her Hoop Stats, Texas currently ranks No. 3 in Division I in total rebounding rate at 57.7 percent. No. 2 is LSU (58.4 percent), thanks in large part to Morrow, who is putting together another spectacular season statistically, averaging 18.2 points, 14.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. Factor in guards Flau’Jae Johnson (19.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game) and Mikaylah Williams (17 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game) and you get a trio of players whose physical gifts and skill with the basketball are the envy of practically every coach in the nation.

The battle on the boards won’t be the only thing to watch on Sunday. How Texas point guard and former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Rori Harmon (9.5 points, 6.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game) plays against Johnson, particularly defensively, will have a significant impact on the game’s outcome. The 5-foot-6 Harmon will be at a height disadvantage—Johnson is one of the conference’s bigger lead guards at 5-foot-10—and as with any top perimeter scorer, it will take a team effort to completely neutralize the LSU star.

How the game is called (and how each team reacts to it) will also be a factor. Texas and LSU rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in total trips to the free throw line, due largely to how hard both teams play when attacking the glass. Should either team get into foul trouble early, it will make the contributions of their respective bench players, such as Kyla Oldacre for Texas and Kailyn Gilbert for LSU, that much more important.