Longhorns Country

No. 1 Texas Longhorns vs. William And Mary NCAA Tournament, Preview, How To Watch

Texas Longhorns women's basketball is set to face William and Mary in NCAA Tournament first-round game

Lindsey Plotkin

Texas Longhorns forward Madison Booker, left, and guard Rori Harmon, right, react as Texas is awarded a number one seed in the NCAA tournament bracket at the University of Texas Club at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Sunday, March 16, 2025 in Austin.
Texas Longhorns forward Madison Booker, left, and guard Rori Harmon, right, react as Texas is awarded a number one seed in the NCAA tournament bracket at the University of Texas Club at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Sunday, March 16, 2025 in Austin. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUSTIN - For their first-round game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, the No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns will face the 16th-seeded William and Mary Tribe. On Thursday, the Tribe won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game to advance to the first round of the Big Dance.

The Tribe knocked out High Point, winning 69-63, and reached the tournament after going on a run to win the Coastal Athletic Association tournament, claiming their automatic bid. The Longhorns also reached their conference tournament game but fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the SEC Championship.

William and Mary lost eight of their last nine regular season games, but have been red-hot since starting conference tournament play. Before losing to South Carolina in the SEC Championship, the Longhorns were on a 15-game winning streak of their own. After losing to the Gamecocks, the Longhorns are bringing their own motivation to the tournament.

Vic Schaefer talks to his team during a timeout at the SEC tournamen
Mar 7, 2025; Greenville, SC, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer talks to his player during a time out against the Ole Miss Rebels during the second half at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

For the Longhorns, sophomore guard Madison Booker has led the way, earning SEC Player of the Year honors for her performance over the season. She's going into her second NCAA Tournament and last season, she led the Longhorns to the Elite Eight, and that was without point guard Rori Harmon.

Now, the Longhorns are almost at full strength, just missing forward Aaliyah Moore, but have shown they have a depth to make a deep tournament run.

The Tribe are led by guard Bella Nascimento, who was instrumental in leading William and Mary to its first-ever tournament appearance, on the men's or women's side. Nascimento averages 16.5 points per game and has scored 77 in her last three games. She scored 24 in the First Four game against High Point, 33 in the CAA Championship against Campbell and 20 against Drexel in the tournament semifinal.

Not only has her play on the court led the Tribe, but when the team lost eight of its last nine games, she gave a motivational speech that changed her team's motivation.

"Is this who we are? Are we quitters? Are we just going to lay down and fold?" William and Mary head coach Erin Dickerson Davis recalled Nascimento asking the team. "She started calling out herself and all of her teammates on the bus on the way back to William & Mary. She said, 'This is what I need from you, but we’re not quitters. Don’t quit on me. Don’t lay down.' I think that sparked the energy that we needed going into practice for the tournament and once we won that first game, we did it together. I think that sparked whatever was going to come next.”  

The Tribe are once again the underdog against the Longhorns, something they are not stranger too. But, the Longhorns pose a bigger challenge than anything the Tribe have faced this season, SEC regular season champions and were ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for several weeks this season. To top everything off, the Tribe have to play in front of Texas' home crowd at the Moody Center, where the Longhorns are undefeated this season.

HOW TO WATCH

WHAT: No. 1 Texas Longhorns vs. Williams and Mary
WHEN: Saturday, March 22 at 8:45 p.m. CT.
WHERE: Moody Center (Austin, TX)
CHANNEL: ESPN2

Published
Lindsey Plotkin
LINDSEY PLOTKIN

Lindsey Plotkin is a journalism major and sports media minor at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a double coverage editor for the Daily Texan on the football and baseball beats, and a staff writer for Texas Longhorns On SI.

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