Texas women’s basketball: Lauren Ebo is key to Longhorns fate in March Madness

Now in his second season in Austin, Vic Schaefer has the Texas Longhorns looking like one of the best programs in the country. His time with Texas has been brief, but Schafer already has two 20+ win seasons with the Longhorns. Last season ended with the Longhorns surprising some folks and making it all the way to the Elite Eight. How far can Schaefer take his team this season?

Texas women’s basketball: 1 player to watch – Lauren Ebo

While she hasn’t always been the most terrifying scoring threat that the Longhorns’ opponents have faced, Lauren Ebo has hit a hot streak and seems to be a tough matchup for just about anyone to try and stop.

On the season, Ebo is averaging a solid 8.1 points per game, but over the past five games, Ebo has averaged 13 points per game. Take a look at the last three contests the Longhorns have played in and you’ll find that she has scored 17 points a game.

That’s pretty solid.

While being a decent and pretty reliable option to turn to when Texas needs points, Ebo is also the most consistent rebounder for the Longhorns as she grabs 7.1 rebounds per game.

There’s a good chance that Ebo won’t take over the game in the same manner that some other players might, but she’ll almost certainly give the Longhorns a very respectable performance that helps improve Texas’ chances of winning a game.

Texas women’s basketball:1 reason they’ll cut down the nets – Depth

The Longhorns appear to have some pretty impressive depth and have trusted a number of different players to help get some wins throughout the season. That sort of depth can be very valuable as Texas enters into the NCAA Tournament.

So far this season, Texas has nine different players who have made appearances in at least 20 games. The Longhorns have eight players who have shown up in at least 25 games and then four that have played in at least 30 games.

Right now, Texas doesn’t turn to just one player for scoring or rebounds or assists. The Longhorns have found ways to get a number of different players involved here. Three different players are scoring in the double digits on average while another three are averaging at least seven points a game.

That’s some pretty valuable experience that has been spread out amongst a number of players this season.

Texas women’s basketball: Recent NCAA Tournament history

Schaefer is currently in his second season with the Longhorns. Prior to his stint in Austin, he was leading the Mississippi State Bulldogs and had turned them into championship contenders. In back-to-back seasons, he was the national runner-up and has since made his return to his home state in search of championships.

Before Schaefer arrived in Austin, the Longhorns were a consistently solid program, but they weren’t able to get to a Final Four during Karen Aston’s time with Texas. Aston guided Texas to the NCAA Tournament six different times and they made the Sweet Sixteen on three different occasions and the Elite Eight once, but not past that.

The last time Texas did happen to make it to the Final Four was with longtime legendary Longhorns coach Jody Conradt in 2003.

And while it’s been a while, Schaefer is trying to get the Longhorns back to championship-contending form. He’s done a pretty solid job so far. After overachieving a bit in the Tournament last year, it’ll be intriguing to see how far Texas can get this season.

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