Kentucky Wildcats at Texas Longhorns

Rori Harmon gets Texas women going early to beat Kentucky and send the Longhorns to another Elite 8

Harmon got the Longhorns off to a fast start with an all-around effort, and played through a jammed right middle finger to finish with 11 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and six steals in a 76-54 Sweet 16 win over Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky on Saturday.

“Yeah, the urgency that I play with is that when you lose right now you’re done, so that’s constantly in my mind,” said Harmon, in her fifth and final year in the program. “There has to be a certain urgency and intensity that we play with to not let any team try to work their way back or anything. I think that’s how we came out today.”

Jordan Lee scored 18 points while All-America forward Madison Booker had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Longhorns (34-3). They have an 11-game winning streak and are in the Elite Eight for the third year in a row.

Texas, which last year went to the Final Four for the first time since 2003 and won its only national title in 1986, will play second-seeded Michigan in the Fort Worth Regional 3 final on Monday night. The Wolverines beat Louisville 71-52 earlier Saturday, setting up the only regional final this year matching the top two seeds.

After Amelia Hassett hit a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game for the Wildcats (25-11), their only lead didn’t last long. Texas responded with 15-0 run, in the middle of which Harmon had three defensive rebounds and four assists in a span of 90 seconds.

“I thought Rori was really special on the ball,” sixth-year Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer said. “I just love how we opened the game. I love how we came out ready to go. I love how we defended the first half. I just thought we were really, really locked in. Our transition was obviously very good early, and now that was off of our defense.”

Harmon’s early spurt began with a defensive rebound and an assist on Justice Carlton’s 3 that made it 5-3 and put the Horns ahead to stay. Harmon then also had assists on the next three consecutive fast-break layups, one by Carlton before two by Lee that came after Harmon rebounded Kentucky misses.

Clara Strack, the 6-foot-5 center who came from Virginia Tech with coach Kenny Brooks two years ago, led the Wildcats with 16 points. Asia Boone had 11 points while Teonni Key added 10 points and nine rebounds. Kentucky, which has never been past the Sweet 16, also lost to Texas 64-53 on Feb. 9.

“They were on a different planet today, especially that first quarter. They came out and they were aggressive,” Brooks said. “They play right to the rules. The rules allow a certain level of physicality. They play right to it. They don’t go over it. They play right to it. Today, I thought they did a tremendous job of pushing us off of our mark.”

Harmon plays through pain Even after jamming her finger late in the first quarter, Harmon had nine points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals by halftime.

“It’s not that big of a deal, but yeah, I have jammed this middle finger quite a few times this year, so that’s basically what happened,” she said. “It’s pretty swollen right now, but like coach said, I think in the heat of the moment, you kind of forget about it obviously.”

That first-half performance matched the 5-5-5-5 line Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo, who has an NCAA single-season record 199 steals, had in the Fighting Irish’s NCAA opener against Fairfield.

Horns run wild on the fast break The Longhorns finished with a 20-0 advantage in fast-break points, with 14 of those coming by halftime when they had a 48-26 lead.

Texas has won its three NCAA tourney games by a combined margin of 106 points. This was the closest after winning both of its games in the first two rounds at home by 42 points, including 100-58 over Oregon to advance to the Sweet 16 site only about 200 miles from the Austin campus.

After Harmon's assist-filled spurt, the bigger run for Texas ended midway through the first quarter after a steal by Harmon, who passed to Booker, who then assisted on a layup by Lee for a 15-3 lead. Texas maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game.

How can I watch Wildcats vs. Longhorns?

• TV Channel: Wildcats vs Longhorns 2021 College Basketball, week , is broadcasted on ABC.
• Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Venue: Dickies Arena

Location: Fort Worth, TX
Attendance: 11,197 | Capacity: