Drexel's defense impresses Longhorns the most ahead of March Madness matchup

AUSTIN (KXAN) — He's not a doctor, but if you need a note to miss work Friday afternoon, Texas women's basketball head coach Vic Schaefer has you covered.

"If you need an excuse, I'm glad to write it," he said during Thursday's media availability. "I'm really excited for our players to be able to play in this great event, the greatest sporting event I believe in college athletics. I've got a feeling we're going to have a lot of folks missing work tomorrow."

The Longhorns, seeded No. 1 in Region 4 of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, take on the 16th-seeded Drexel Dragons at 2 p.m. inside Moody Center in a first-round matchup. No. 8 Alabama and No. 9 Florida State face off in the following game Friday, and the winners will play in the second round Sunday.

Both teams are hot coming into the tournament. Drexel (19-14, 10-8 Colonial Athletic Association) has won seven consecutive games en route to a CAA tournament title and the Longhorns (30-4, 14-4 Big 12) are 12-1 in their last 13 with a Big 12 tourney title. The Dragons won the first three games of their conference tournament by a combined five points before avenging two losses to Stony Brook in the CAA title game 68-60, and the Longhorns won their Big 12 tournament games by an average of 13.3 points.

Schaefer said the first thing that jumped out at him while reviewing Drexel's tape was how they defended, and the Dragons have a tall task ahead of them trying to keep the nation's No. 11 scoring offense down.

"They've only given up 70 or more points in a game one time this year. That's an impressive stat," Schaefer said. "They can confuse you if you're not careful, if you haven't watched enough film and realize what they're trying to do. They play extremely hard and they're talented and skilled."

The Dragons are No. 13 in scoring defense, allowing 55.1 points per game, but the Longhorns rack up more than 80 per game and are one of the best Power 5 offenses in the country. Conversely, Texas allows 58 points per game and the Dragons score 57.7 per game. Longhorns senior guard Shay Holle said while the team scores in bunches, they hang their hat on the defensive end.

"We watch film and we can tell that when we're connected on defense and when we're locked in, everything else just falls into place," she said. "When we focus on defense, we know the offense will come when it needs to."

It also helps to have an Associated Press second-team All-American on the floor in freshman Madison Booker. Pressed into playing point guard after Rori Harmon's season-ending knee injury, she hasn't blinked. She became the first freshman in Big 12 history to win player of the year and the first freshman in Texas history to be named an All-American, and her game still has plenty of room to grow, Schaefer said.

"I think the big thing with her is just how she's really developed throughout the course of our season. Especially in the last two and a half months. I mean, it's quite remarkable, her development and how far she's come," he said. "And really, quite frankly, I know how far she can still get. I know her ceiling is still way out there."

Booker averaged more than 20 points per game in Big 12 play this season, and as she grew into running the offense rather than playing on the wing, her game reflected her maturation.

"I think my confidence really wasn't — it wasn't down, I would say, it was more of unsure what I was doing," she said. "But as the games continued, and as the conference continued, I think my confidence grew."

Texas lost in the second round last season to Louisville at Moody Center and Schaefer said the team remembers the pain following that game.

"I haven't had to bring it up. It's still on their mind," he said. "You want them to learn from experiences, and certainly that was a tough experience. Louisville played awfully well that day, we obviously didn't. That's why you play the game."