Texas vs. Drexel: NCAA Women’s Tournament Preview and Prediction
Here is everything you need to know about Texas and Drexel in our Longhorns vs. Dragons NCAA Women’s Tournament first-round preview.
No. 1 Texas (30-4) vs. No. 16 Drexel (19-14)
Time, TV: 2 p.m., Friday, ESPNU
Location: Moody Center, Austin, Texas
All-time series: First meeting
Winner: Advances to the second round on Sunday against the winner of the game between No. 8 Alabama and No. 9 Florida State
Projected starting lineups
Texas: F Madison Booker, F Taylor Jones, F Aaliyah Moore, G Shay Holle, G Shaylee Gonzales.
Drexel: F Chloe Hodges, F Hetta Saatman, G Grace O’Neill, G Amaris Baker, G Brooke Mullin.
Players to watch
Texas
F Madison Booker
Booker will get a lot of love from commentators in this tournament, and for good reason. The true freshman was the Big 12 Freshman and Co-Player of the Year. When point guard Rori Harmon went down with a season-ending knee injury, Booker was the player Texas coach Vic Schaefer turned to in order to run the point. It was an immense responsibility that Booker not only accepted but thrived on. Entering the NCAA Tournament she is averaging 16.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.5 steals.
Drexel
G Brooke Mullin
Much of what the Dragons want to do offensively is going to happen because Mullin makes it happen. While she’s the Dragons’ second-leading scorer with 10.3 points per game, she also averaged 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals this season. This is her fifth year of college basketball, but her first at Drexel. She transferred after four years at Villanova where she never averaged more than five points per season. She’s leveled up with the Dragons.
Key storylines
Texas
Is this the year coach Vic Schaefer, the Austin native, finally gets the Longhorns to the Final Four? He’s gotten close. In each of his first two seasons he got Texas to the Elite Eight. Getting the Longhorns to the Final Four this season, without Harmon, one of the game’s best all-around players, would be something. Getting there would be a big deal for the program, too. The program under Jody Conradt was one of the standard-bearers in women’s basketball and it still is — but Texas hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2003. Schaefer, who led Mississippi State there twice, measures success the same way.
Drexel
The Dragons were the seventh seed in the CAA Tournament. Truth is, the Dragons already had a head of steam going in, as they won three straight before entering the bracket. Then, the Dragons won four straight, including beating Stony Brook in the championship game. This will be the program’s third NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since 2021. Fourth-year coach Amy Mallon has made Drexel a consistent program, with two 20-win seasons and postseason play each season (two NCAA, two WNIT).
Prediction
Texas 84, Drexel 60. This could get bad, honestly. Texas is on a roll right now and Drexel, in spite of its seven-game winning streak, played just one high-major program this season, losing to Florida State by 20 points.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
