No. 1 Texas routs No. 16 William & Mary in NCAA tourney opener

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Madison Booker had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Taylor Jones scored 19 points as No. 1 seed Texas opened the NCAA Tournament with a 105-61 victory over No. 16 William & Mary on Saturday night.

Booker had her double-double by the end of the third quarter for the Longhorns (32-3), who advanced to a second-round matchup with No. 8 Illinois (22-9), which beat No. 9 Creighton earlier Saturday.

Texas is a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year after reaching No. 1 during the regular season for the first time since 2004 and winning a share of the Southeastern Conference championship. The All-American Booker was the league's player of the year.

Yet the early moments of their tournament were anything but smooth against a quick and spunky opponent making the most of its chance in the spotlight. William & Mary (16-19), which had never made the tournament until this year, quickly tested Texas with an up-tempo attack that had the Longhorns off balance early.

The Tribe were within 23-18 at the end of the first quarter before Texas slowly and steadily enforced its will to take control.

The Longhorns' considerable size advantage with Jones and Kyla Oldacre in the post, and the 6-1 Booker on the wing, had Texas dominating rebounding and scoring in the paint.

Brianna Preston finished a fast break with a layup, Oldacre muscled her way over two defenders for a basket and Booker scored twice as Texas opened an 18-point lead and took control from there.

Bella Nascimento led William & Mary with 19 points.

Takeaways

William & Mary: The Tribe's first NCAA Tournament was short but sweet: They got a chance to taste victory with their First Four win over High Point. The Tribe was the only team in this year's tournament with a losing record, and coach Erin Dickerson Davis and her program had success to build on. After the game, the players gathered in a group hug on the court and cheered.

Texas: The Longhorns were uneven on both ends of the floor for long stretches, with sloppy passes early and leaving open shooters on the perimeter. Texas was never in danger of losing, but coach Vic Schaefer has plenty to clean up going forward as the competition only gets better.

Key stat

Texas made just three 3-pointers but dominated scoring in the paint 56-22.

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