Women's College Hoops Spotlight: LSU, Texas Lead SEC's Dominant Season

And then there were three.

With then-No. 12 LSU knocking off then-No. 2 Texas 70-65 over the weekend, there are now just three undefeated teams left in women’s college basketball. No. 1 UConn, No. 5 Vanderbilt and No. 17 Texas Tech are the only remaining undefeated teams.

The Longhorns, who made their first Final Four appearance last year since 2003, trailed most of the game and cut a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to three points. Standout junior forward Madison Booker led all scorers with 24 points — 20 in the second half — in the comeback. But it wasn’t enough to overcome LSU’s stingy defense, which forced 17 turnovers and was tougher on the boards. Outside of Booker, the Tigers held the Longhorns to 15-of-41 shooting, and out-rebounded them 44-35.

"They played much harder than we did," Texas coach Vic Schaefer told reporters after the game. "And I thought they were way tougher than we were today. By far our worst game of the year."

The Longhorns need to have a short memory given their next game is against No. 2 South Carolina in Columbia on Thursday night. The SEC foes last played each other in the Players Era Championship on Nov. 27 and Texas won a close game, 66-64. 

The Longhorns and Gamecocks played four times last season, including in the SEC championship game and in the Final Four, with Dawn Staley’s team winning both of those critical matchups.

[Men's Hoops Spotlight: The Last 4 Undefeated Power-Conference Teams]

They could end up playing four times again this year — in addition to the Players Era Championship and Thursday’s conference game, both teams are projected to make deep runs in March and therefore could meet in the SEC and NCAA tournaments.

LSU, meanwhile, has now won consecutive games after losing two in a row to begin conference play. Kim Mulkey’s team, which started the season 14-0, dropped games against top 15 opponents Kentucky and Vanderbilt before getting back on track and handling both Georgia and Texas. Guard Mikaylah Williams led LSU with 20 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists in the win over Texas. Four other players each added 10 in the victory.

The Tigers don’t play again until they hit the road to face No. 13 Oklahoma on Sunday.

The SEC is, hands down, the most competitive conference in women’s hoops this year, with nine teams ranked in the top 25: No. 2 South Carolina, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Kentucky, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 16 Ole Miss, No. 20 Tennessee and No. 21 Alabama. For what it's worth, at this point of the season last year, the SEC had seven teams in the top 25.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!