BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Texas coach Vic Schaefer got the tense battle he expected between his defensive-minded Longhorns and the highest-scoring team in the country in Tennessee.
In the end, the Longhorns edged their Southeastern Conference foe with the same approach they've had all season — relying on swarming defense and the shot-making of SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker.
Top-seeded Texas got 17 points from Booker and outlasted the fifth-seeded Lady Volunteers 67-59 on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women's NCAA Tournament.
“We’ve been in these battles enough,” Schaefer said. “We know what it takes. When you’re tired or maybe in that moment of the last four or five minutes, that’s when you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall back on your fundamentals.”
Jordan Lee scored 13 points and Taylor Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Longhorns (34-3), who advanced to face TCU in the Elite Eight. The Horned Frogs beat Notre Dame earlier Saturday to reach the first regional final in school history.
Booker scored seven points in the fourth quarter, including four straight with the game tied at 54 with five minutes left. Tennessee pulled back within one on a jumper by Ruby Whitehorn, who led the Lady Vols (24-10) with 16 points, before the Longhorns stretched their lead to eight.
That was Texas' biggest advantage of the day, with Tennessee matching the Longhorns' biggest strengths: defense, rebounding and post play. The Lady Vols outrebounded the Longhorns 39-36, had 15 second-chance points to Texas' five and got 36 points in the paint.
“I was proud of how hard we played,” said Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell, who brought new energy to the Lady Vols program in her first season, during which she gave birth to a son. “A big point of emphasis was rebounding, and we did what we needed to there. They just did such a great job of rushing us into shots and forcing some turnovers down the stretch when we needed to get some shots off.”
Bryanna Preston added 12 points and four assists for Texas, which got 40 points in the post.
Zee Spearman had 13 points for the Lady Vols, who continued their run as the only school to appear in every Division I women's tournament with their 43rd straight appearance.
Tennessee outscored Texas 17-13 in the second with Booker sitting on the bench much of the quarter after picking up two early fouls. Still, the Longhorns held a 34-30 edge at the half.
Despite what Schaefer said wasn't his team's best day, the Longhorns locked down on defense down the stretch against Tennessee's potent offense, which averages 87.5 points per game.
“We didn’t want it to be the last time we did it,” said Texas senior guard Rori Harmon, who finished with eight points. “We talked about accountability and leadership. ... We were over here grabbing each other by our jerseys and telling (each other), ‘You can’t let this happen, you can’t let this happen.’ I think it was just collectively, we all just wanted it so bad.”
Texas held Tennessee to nine points in the fourth, forced four Tennessee turnovers over the final five minutes and held the Lady Vols to no makes on their final five shots.
Late in the third, Spearman lost her shoe in the middle of a play. Guard Sara Puckett picked up Spearman's footwear, handed it off to her teammate in transition and chased down Jones for a block on the other end of the floor.
The Longhorns improved to 18-2 against Southeastern Conference opponents, including an 80-76 win over Tennessee during the regular season.
“Our league is a monster,” Schaefer said. “I mean, it’s just a nightmare of a league. That’s the thing, y’all. You go to the NCAA Tournament and you think, ‘Oh, thank goodness. We can see somebody else.’ No, I get to play two games and then all of the sudden I gotta play Tennessee. Give me a break.
“But that’s our league. There are just so many great teams, they are all well-coached, and so many great players. I walk out and I look at Tennessee and it’s like looking at a WNBA team. They’ve got size at guard, size at 5, size everywhere. Athleticism, quickness all over the floor. It ain’t much fun.”
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Texas guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (32) chases down a loose ball during the first half against Tennessee in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 29, 2025. in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
WASHINGTON (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker held the Senate floor with a marathon speech that lasted all night and into Tuesday afternoon in a feat of endurance to show Democrats’ objections to President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions.
Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.” More than 19 hours later, the 55-year-old senator, a former football tight end, was plainly exhausted but still going. It was a remarkable show of stamina — among the longest in Senate history — as Democrats try to show their frustrated supporters that they are doing everything possible to contest Trump's agenda.
“These are not normal times in our nation," Booker said as he launched into his speech. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”
Pacing, then at times leaning on his podium, Booker railed for hours against cuts to Social Security offices led by Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. He listed the impacts of Trump's early orders and spoke to concerns that broader cuts to the social safety net could be coming, though Republican lawmakers say the program won't be touched.
Booker also read what he said were letters from constituents, donning and doffing his reading glasses. One writer was alarmed by the Republican president's talk of annexing Greenland and Canada and a “looming constitutional crisis.”
“I hear you. I see you, and I’m standing here in part because of letters like yours,” Booker said.
As his speech rolled into Tuesday afternoon, Booker got help from Democratic colleagues, who gave him a break from speaking to ask him a question and praise his performance. Booker yielded for questions but made sure to say he would not give up the floor. He stayed standing to comply with Senate rules.
“Your strength, your fortitude, your clarity has just been nothing short of amazing and all of America is paying attention to what you’re saying,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said as he asked Booker a question on the Senate floor. “All of America needs to know there’s so many problems, the disastrous actions of this administration.”
As Booker stood for hour after hour, he appeared to have nothing more than a couple glasses of water to sustain him.
“I shall not complain,” Booker said with a laugh after one colleague asked how he was doing Tuesday afternoon.
Democratic aides watched from the chamber's gallery, and Sen. Chris Murphy accompanied Booker throughout his speech. Murphy was returning the comradeship that Booker had given to him in 2016 when the Connecticut Democrat held the floor for almost 15 hours to argue for gun control legislation.
The record for the longest individual speech belongs to Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957, according to the Senate's records. As it rolled past 19 hours, Booker's speech marked the fifth longest in Senate history.
Only one other sitting senator has spoken for longer. In 2013, Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican of Texas, held the floor for 21 hours and 19 minutes to contest the Affordable Care Act.
Booker repeatedly invoked the civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis of Georgia on Tuesday, arguing that overcoming opponents like Thurmond would require more than just talking.
“You think we got civil rights one day because Strom Thurmond — after filibustering for 24 hours — you think we got civil rights because he came to the floor one day and said, ‘I’ve seen the light,’” Booker said. ”No, we got civil rights because people marched for it, sweat for it and John Lewis bled for it."
Booker's speech was not a filibuster, which is a speech meant to halt the advance of a specific piece of legislation. Instead, Booker's performance was a broader critique of Trump's agenda, meant to hold up the Senate's business and draw attention to what Democrats are doing to contest the president. Without a majority in either congressional chamber, Democrats have been almost completely locked out of legislative power but are turning to procedural maneuvers to try to thwart Republicans.
Booker is serving his second term in the Senate. He was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 2020, when he launched his campaign from the steps of his home in Newark. He dropped out after struggling to gain a foothold in a packed field, falling short of a threshold to meet in a January 2020 debate.
But as Democrats search for a next generation of leadership, frustrated with the old-timers at the top, Booker's speech could cement his status as a leading figure in the party's opposition to Trump.
Even before taking to the national political stage, Booker was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party in New Jersey, serving as mayor of Newark, the state's largest city, from 2006 to 2013.
During college, he played tight end for Stanford University's football team. He became a Rhodes scholar and graduated from Yale Law before starting his career as an attorney for nonprofits.
He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2013 during a special election held after the death of incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg. He won his first full term in 2014 and reelection in 2020.
Catalini reported from Trenton, N.J.
In this image provided by Senate Television, Sen, Cory Booker, D-N.J. speaks on the Senate floor, Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025. (Senate Television via AP)
In this image provided by Senate Television, Sen, Cory Booker, D-N.J. speaks on the Senate floor, Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025. (Senate Television via AP)
In this image provided by Senate Television, Sen, Cory Booker, D-N.J. speaks on the Senate floor, Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025. (Senate Television via AP)
FILE - Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
FILE - Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.,, speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
