Freshman forward Madison Booker led No. 5 Texas women’s basketball to an 82-66 road victory over Houston.
Vic Schaefer, the head coach, earned his 400th career victory.
“I’ve had really good players, lots of really good assistant coaches,” Schaefer told ESPN.
“I’ve had a couple of really good administrations that supported our kids and program.
“Prior to joining Texas in 2020, Schaefer was the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs for eight years, guiding the club to two NCAA championship games.
During his tenure there, Schaefer met his current right-hand man, Booker, who is originally from Ridgeland, Mississippi.
The head coach is one of 60 active Division I coaches who have reached this milestone.
Booker scored 23 points at the Fertitta Center in Houston after being named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year Midseason Team.
She is the only Texas player and one of three true freshman to make the 30-player list.
It was her 15th consecutive game of scoring in double figures, and her eighth with 20 or more points.
Booker has been excelling as a point guard despite previously stating that she prefers playing on the wing.
“[Madison] got thrown into the point guard role right when conference play started and she has stepped up in such a big way,” Schaefer told ESPN.
“It’s difficult enough for a rookie to learn one position, let alone another, and the point guard must also know all of the other positions.
She works so hard and is quite humble.
She is unique in terms of her skill set and ability to lead a team, and she does so in difficult circumstances.
” Booker opened the scoring for the evening, putting Texas up.
The Longhorns led the whole first quarter, but the Cougars remained close.
With two minutes remaining in the first, Houston graduate guard Britney Onyeje tied the game for the first time, 13-13.
Texas led again entering the second quarter, but Houston held on until Texas junior forward DeYona Gaston hit back-to-back two-pointers in the paint with six minutes remaining in the first half.
After then, Texas embarked on a 15-0 run, leaving no chance for Houston to come back.
“In the last six minutes, we stopped sharing the basketball,” Houston head coach Ronald Hughey said.
“(We) stopped attacking like we needed to.”
Gaston started the game on the bench, but in her 25 minutes of play, she dominated on both ends of the court.
In her Houston homecoming, the forward scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Both Gaston and Booker had perfect free throw conversion rates. Texas is now 10-3 in Big 12 play, second only to Oklahoma.
The Longhorns will try to move up the rankings by hosting Iowa State and Texas Tech at Moody Center on February 17 and 21, respectively, before the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City on March 7.
