In the preseason, Texas landed fourth on the Women’s College Basketball Rankings behind UConn, South Carolina, and UCLA. Five weeks into the season, the Longhorns have soared to second place after beating UCLA and South Carolina. The latter was the team’s hardest-fought win of the season. Texas secured a 66-64 win behind strong games from Madison Booker and Jordan Lee and a game-winning shot from Rori Harmon.
Harmon may not be a big-time scorer in every game, but she is the team’s starting point guard and the most veteran player. Her playmaking, defense, and experience make her an invaluable part of her team’s success. Her relationship with head coach Vic Schaefer also helps her succeed in her role. According to Harmon, the two have some things in common that make them work so well.
When Harmon appeared on The Ringer WNBA Show, she was asked about what made her and Schaefer work so well together. “I think it’s just our competitive nature,” Harmon said. “We just both hate losing more than we love winning. It’s truly in our blood to really hate losing. So, that was kind of like our topic of conversation. The way he embraces and takes pride in defense, I think, is very important. I don’t know how many games [we had] where we might have had a very shaky offensive game maybe in the past year or this year, but it didn’t matter because our defense was going to take care of it. And so, I think when you have that, it’s really easy for me to decide this is the type of person, type of coach, I want to play for.”
Their competitive nature and defensive focus have defined the Longhorns’ success this season.
The Texas Longhorns have found a lot of success under Vic Schaefer
Vic Schaefer took over as the Longhorns’ head coach in 2020, leaving Mississippi State after eight seasons to return to his home state. Since then, his team has made the Elite Eight three times, lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2023, and made the Final Four in 2025.
Harmon has been an integral part of that success. She came to the University of Texas for the 2021-22 season, which was Schaefer’s second season with the team. Harmon’s senior season was the team’s most successful one since hiring Schaefer. Led by Madison Booker, Harmon, Taylor Jones, and Kyla Odacre, Texas took down William&Mary, Illinois, Tennessee, and TCU before meeting its match in the Final Four and losing to South Carolina. Wanting to build on that success, Harmon returned for a fifth season. She was eligible to return for another season due to a knee injury that kept her out of most of the 2023-24 season.
Despite some injuries, the Longhorns look ready to put together another impressive season and Harmon is off to a great start. She is averaging 9.9 points on efficient shooting, 3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.8 steals. Some of her more impressive performances were a double-double with 11 points and 12 assists against James Madison University, a 26-point outing against UCLA, and her nine assists and game-winner against South Carolina despite a somewhat disappointing shooting night.