Jeff Howe

I'm happy for Coach Pierce. I don't know if the Rice program will ever be what it was, but it can be much better than it has been in recent years. There is a LOT of work to be done as far as infrastructure goes, but I believe Coach will do good things there.

TCU is the 2, Notre Dame is the 3 and Ohio State is the 4.

The Texas women’s basketball team earned a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive NCAA Tournament. The field of 68 was unveiled on Sunday, with the Longhorns’ road to the Final Four in Tampa going through Birmingham as the top seed in Regional 3 (No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Ohio State round out the top seeds in the region). Texas (31-3, 15-1 SEC) will begin March Madness on Saturday with a first-round game against the winner of a First Four game between High Point and William & Mary. The Longhorns will then face Illinois, the No. 8 seed in the region, or ninth-seeded Creighton, who round out the four teams heading to the Forty Acres for the opening weekend at Moody Center. In the program’s sixth NCAA Tournament under coach Vic Schaefer, Texas is one of the favorites to be the last team standing inside Amalie Arena when a national champion is crowned on Sunday, April 6. The Longhorns are joined on the No. 1 line by No. 1 overall seed UCLA (30-2, 16-2 Big Ten), South Carolina (30-3, 15-1 SEC) and USC (28-3, 16-1 Big Ten). Texas split its two regular-season meetings with the reigning national champion Gamecocks, ending their first season in the SEC with a share of the conference championship. The Longhorns lost a coin flip with South Carolina to be the top seed in the SEC Tournament, which coach Dawn Staley’s team won with a 64-45 victory over the Longhorns in the conference title game last Sunday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. The 2024-25 SEC Coach of the Year, Schaefer has guided Texas to the Elite Eight in three of his first four seasons. After coaching Mississippi State to consecutive national runner-up finishes in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018 over his eight seasons running the show in Starkville, Schaefer is attempting to lead the Longhorns to their first Final Four since 2003 for an opportunity to win the school’s first national championship since 1986. Texas is led on the floor by sophomore forward Madison Booker. The SEC Player of the Year, Booker leads the Longhorns in scoring (16.2 points per game) and ranks second on the team in rebounds (6.6 per game), assists (2.8 per game) and steals (1.6 per game). A Naismith Trophy (national player of the year) semifinalist and a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award (best small forward in Division I), Booker heads into March Madness shooting 45.6 percent from the field, a team-best 43.9 percent from 3-point range and 82.9 percent from the free-throw line. Booker and senior guard Rori Harmon, an SEC All-Defensive Team selection and a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist, help make Texas one of the top defensive teams in the tournament. The Longhorns allow the fewest points per game in the SEC (55.9 per game) and rank among the nation’s leaders in turnover margin (ninth with plus-7.62 per game), rebounding margin (ninth with plus-9.1 per game) blocked shots per game (14th with 5.2 per game) and turnovers forced per game (18th with 21 per game). View full news story

Duplantier got the win to move to 3-0 on the season. Volantis picked up his second save of the season.

FINAL: Texas 8, Mississippi State 7 That's 15 consecutive wins for the Longhorns.

Sullivan grounds out on an 0-1 pitch to end the game. Texas hangs on to take the opener at Duty Noble.

Reese sent a rocket to left and it was a tough play for Farmer.

On an 0-2 pitch, Reese doubles to left-center. It's an 8-7 game. State has the tying run in scoring position and the winning run at the plate.

Two on, two down for State.

Bryce Chance draws a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Dylan Volantis is on the mound to try and get the final out of the game.

State now has a runner in scoring position after a wild pitch.

Duplantier gets a mound visit from Weiner for a pitch com and then strikes out Stallman. Two down.

State has a runner on first with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Farmer and Mendoza struck out to end the top of the ninth.

Borba (reached on a throwing error) is on first with two outs in the top of the ninth.

End of 8: Texas 8, Mississippi State 5

Duplantier is back out for the eighth.

End of 7: Texas 8, Mississippi State 5

The Longhorns will take an 8-5 lead to the bottom of the seventh.