No. 1-Seed Texas Crushes Missouri State 87-45 to Begin NCAA Tournament Title Chase

The top-seeded Texas Longhorns left no doubt in their NCAA Tournament first-round affair with the No. 16-seed Missouri State Lady Bears at the Moody Center in Austin on Friday afternoon.

Texas (32-3) coasted to an 87-45 victory after jumping out to a 12-0 lead, building a 30-point lead by halftime and outscoring Missouri State (22-13) 24-0 in the paint in the first two quarters.

The 44-12 lead at the break marked a new low in Texas program history for points allowed in a half in NCAA Tournament play.

The margin of victory drew eyeballs as the game winded down. The final score fell short of the pre-game spread of 44.5 that favored Texas.

Missouri State scored just four points in the opening period and eight points in the second quarter. The Lady Bears then put together a run of 20 points in the 43-point third quarter.

The Longhorns slammed the door on the wire-to-wire win by out-scoring the Conference USA champs 20-11 in the fourth.

Kyla Olacre dominated on the inside as the 6-6 senior towered over the competition to score 15 points and grab six offensive rebounds. Texas, the champions in the SEC, outscored the Lady Bears 50-12 in the paint and scored 28 points off of 19 Missouri State turnovers.

Jordan Lee led the game in scoring with 19 points, All-American forward Madison Booker posted her eighth double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Bryanna Preston sprinted to 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting with a team-high four assists.

Vic Schaefer now spearheads what he hopes to be another rewarding postseason run by facing No. 8-seed Oregon in Austin on Sunday. The exact tip-off time has yet to be announced.

The second-round matchup gives Texas an opportunity to add to its program-record 43-game winning streak.

The Ducks earned a 70-60 win over No. 9-seed Virginia Tech off of Katie Fiso's 22 points on Friday just prior to the Texas-Missouri State tipoff.

No result will be as rewarding as another trip to the Final Four for the Longhorns, who's championship aspirations somehow grow even larger after a complete demonlition in Round 1.