Texas women's hoops get No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament, host 1st and 2nd round at Moody Center
The Texas Longhorns earned a No. 1 seed in Regional 4 and will host first and second round games March 22-25 at Moody Center. Texas will take on No. 16 Drexel in the first round with No. 8 seed Alabama and No. 9 seed Florida State as the opposing matchup.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The women's March Madness tournament is coming to Austin.
The Texas Longhorns earned a No. 1 seed in Region 4 and will host first and second round games March 22-25 at Moody Center. Texas will take on No. 16 Drexel in the first round with No. 8 seed Alabama and No. 9 seed Florida State as the opposing matchup. Specific dates for the first and second rounds weren't immediately posted when the field was announced.
Senior guard Shay Holle said it's "super exciting" to be one of the tournament's top seeds.
"At the end of the day, it's just a number and we have to go out and play, but this team has earned it," she said. "We thought we had a shot at No. 1 but wasn't sure. We're just glad to be hosting."
Head coach Vic Schaefer called it "a tremendous accomplishment."
"I'm really proud of this team, but now we gotta go live it," he said. "When you're the 1 seed, everyone is a lot more interested and focused when they play you."
Texas, moving to the Southeastern Conference next season, won the Big 12 Conference tournament championship with a 70-53 win over Iowa State. The Longhorns finished the regular season 30-4 and 14-4 in Big 12 play. Freshman Madison Booker was named the Big 12 Conference's co-player of the year and she's a semifinalist for Naismith Player of the Year.
The Women's Final Four and national title game will be April 5 and 7 in Cleveland, Ohio. Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games will be in Portland, Oregon and Albany, New York.
South Carolina, the nation's only undefeated team at 32-0, is the tournament's No. 1 overall seed. Iowa and Southern California are the other top seeds in the tournament.
Texas is one of two Power 5 conference teams to win 30 games during the regular season, the other being South Carolina. Junior forward Aaliyah Moore said she was so pumped up after the announcement that she could suit up and play the game right then.
"This is really exciting, and I just know the hard work this team has put in," Moore said. "We're going to get in the gym and go to work."