Texas rolls past Michigan in Fort Worth to book return trip to women's Final Four
Michigan forward Ashley Sofilkanich (15) falls out of bounds as she's double-teamed by Texas forward Teya Sidberry (32) and center Kyla Oldacre (00) during the first half of an Elite Eight NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament game in Fort Worth, Texas, March 30, 2026. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) FORT WORTH — Texas cruised through the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament to return to the Elite Eight for a third straight year in front of a crowd full of burnt orange at Dickies Arena. The Longhorns thought maybe, finally, they’d face a bump in the road against a skilled Michigan team while seeking to reach their second consecutive Final Four.
But Monday evening, Texas showed just how dominant it has been, taking down Michigan 77-41 and riding a lights-out start to the finish. The Longhorns’ average margin of victory through four tournament games now sits at 35. 5 points.
With the win, the Longhorns reached consecutive Final Fours for the first time since 1986-87 when Jody Conradt led Texas to its lone national title the first of those years. Texas will face fellow 1-seed UCLA Friday in Phoenix. All season long, the four 1-seeds have been, by far, better than the rest.
With a South Carolina win over TCU later Monday night, those four teams would get to duke it out for the national title. Texas looked like the better team from the start Monday and jumped out to a lead from which Michigan could never recover. Texas took an 18-4 lead in the first quarter, starting 9 for 9 from the field, while Michigan started 1 for 7.
Texas missed just one field goal in the first quarter, emerging with a 22-9 lead. Michigan put up a better fight in the second quarter but could never make up enough ground to close the sizable Texas advantage. Any time the Wolverines went on a run, Madison Booker answered.