Booker and No. 1 Texas dispatch No. 8 Illinois 65-48 to send the Longhorns back to the Sweet 16

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Madison Booker scored 20 points and No. 1-seed Texas used a smothering defense to earn a 65-48 victory over No. 8 Illinois on Monday, sending the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda added 19 points for Texas (33-3), which will meet Southeastern Conference rival No. 5 Tennessee (24-9) in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday.

Texas outscored Illinois 18-6 in the second quarter, then broke the game open at the start of the third when the Longhorns stretched the lead to 24 after steals by Booker and Rori Harmon led to quick baskets.

Texas’ relentless ball pressure harassed Illinois (22-10) the entire game, and the Longhorns scored 23 points off 20 Illini turnovers. All of it was keyed by Harmon, who had four steals and locked down Illinois guard Genesis Bryant, who had six turnovers.

Harmon missed last year’s tournament when Texas advanced to the Elite Eight because of a knee injury that required surgery.

“I take pride in my defense,” Harmon said. “I just want to play so hard just because I wasn’t playing in the tournament last year.”

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Mwenentanda had started 12 of the Longhorns’ previous 14 games but was on the bench for tipoff for the second consecutive game as Texas inserted freshman guard Jordan Lee in her place.

She responded by scoring a career high in points on 7 of 10 shooting and also grabbed six rebounds.

“I’ve been prepared for this moment since day one freshman year,” Mwenentanda said. “You just saw the most confident version of myself.”

Texas coach Vic Schaefer did not keep her on the bench for very long Monday.

“When I can play her, it opens up the playbook for me. When (she) came in, it really changed things for us,” Schaefer said.

Adalia McKenzie led Illinois with 13 points.

Takeaways

Illinois: The Illini earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years in the first round against Creighton, but they will lose four senior starters, notably Kendall Bostic, the program’s career rebounds leader.

“Our next step in this process is we want to get to the Sweet 16,” Illinois coach Shauna Green said.

“We’ll use the experience from this year, knowing we’ve played in a big moment,” said freshman Berry Wallace, who scored 12 points.

Texas: A No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year, the Longhorns will be looking to make the Elite Eight for the fourth time since 2021. Schaefer, who twice led Mississippi State to the championship game, called Texas “one of my better teams, y’all.”

“We’ve got enough,” he said.

Short bench

The Illini mostly used a six-player rotation through its two tournament games, and they wore down against the Longhorns’ pressure, Green said.

“They are so strong and physical and long,” Green said. “It wears on you.”

Key stat

Texas didn’t make a 3-pointer and has just three in its first two tournament games. The Longhorns averaged just three per game during the season.

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