Texas women's hoops gearing up for Florida tournament

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas women's basketball has played four games so far this season, and have won all four of those games by at least 30 points.

Evaluating early season competition can be tricky with the Longhorns clearly overmatching a lot of their opponents. Head Coach Vic Schaefer and his staff look at effort as much as the play itself.

"I was pleased with how we played at DePaul," said Schaefer. "That was our first true road test. I thought we played really hard. Didn't necessarily play really well all the time but we played hard."

The Longhorns beat DePaul on Nov. 16 in Chicago before coming home to handle Tarleton State the following Wednesday. Texas has not played since.

The No. 5 Longhorns will get back to action Friday in Fort Myers, Florida when they start the Gulf Coast Showcase. The nine days between games is a key period for Schaefer to see his team get better and he says they've done just that.

"We've had a lot of failure in practice," Schaefer said. "That's how you grow. I like what we're doing. I like how hard we're competing."

Texas will start their time in Fort Myers at 6:30 p.m. Friday night against Butler. The Bulldogs head into the matchup with a 5-1 record, including a win over Indiana.

Schaefer's group is going to play three games in Florida, regardless of results. The games will be back-to-back-to-back from Friday to Sunday.

"Our kids are excited about going and playing in a tournament," said Schaefer. "They made the comment yesterday [that] the game against Tarleton [State] seems like a month ago."

West Virginia is also in the tournament field. The Mountaineers are ranked No. 12 in the AP Poll.

Being away for Thanksgiving isn't really anything new for college basketball players who often have tournaments away from home. Texas seems ready for the challenge, according to their head coach.

"I'm excited to take this team on the road and kind of get away a little bit. Now we'll see what our [focus] is like in Fort Myers."

While the 4-0 Longhorns return the majority of their roster from last year, they are working a couple of newcomers into the rotation. Players like Kyla Oldacre, Laila Phelia and some impact freshman are playing major minutes for Texas.

"That's why you play those games early to try to develop [chemistry]," said Schaefer. "I'm fine with it. We've got to continue to work at it. We have in practice."

The Longhorns have a lot of games and a lot of travel soon after the Gulf Coast Showcase before starting conference play.

"The gauntlet is here for us," said Schaefer. "We've got to be ready to go."