FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Rori Harmon had 11 points, seven assists and six steals and Texas beat fellow SEC member Kentucky 76-54 on Saturday, sending the top-seeded Longhorns to another Elite Eight in the women's NCAA Tournament.
Jordan Lee had 18 points while All-America forward Madison Booker had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Longhorns (34-3), who have an 11-game winning streak. Harmon also had seven rebounds.
Amelia Hassett hit a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game for the Wildcats (25-11), but their only lead didn't last long. Texas responded with 15-0 run, in the middle of which Harmon had three defensive rebounds and four assists in a span of 90 seconds.
The Longhorns will play second-seeded Michigan in the Fort Worth Regional 3 final on Monday night. The Wolverines beat Louisville 71-52 earlier Saturday, setting up the only regional final this year matching the top two seeds.
Texas is in the Elite Eight for the third year in a row under coach Vic Schaefer. Last year it went to the Final Four for the first time since 2003.
Clara Strack, the 6-foot-5 center who came from Virginia Tech with coach Kenny Brooks two years ago, led the Wildcats with 16 points. Asia Boone had 11 points while Teonni Key added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Harmon's early spurt began with a defensive rebound and an assist on Justice Carlton's 3 that made it 5-3 and put the Horns ahead to stay. Their 5-foot-6 guard, who returned for another season for another chance to win a national title, then had assists on three consecutive fastbreak layups, one by Carlton before two by Lee, which came after Harmon rebounded Kentucky misses.
That bigger run for Texas ended midway through the first quarter after a steal by Harmon, who passed to Booker, who then assisted on a layup by Lee for a 15-3 lead. Texas maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game.
Harmon had nine points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals by halftime. That matched the 5-5-5 line Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo, who has a NCAA single-season record 199 steals, had in the Fighting Irish's NCAA opener against Fairfield.
The Wildcats, who have never been past the Sweet 16, also lost to Texas 64-53 on Feb. 9.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
