Texas women's basketball: Vic Schaefer talks Breya Cunningham and defense at SEC Tipoff

Before facing its first opponent of the season, members of the Texas women’s basketball program first had to face the media Wednesday. Head coach Vic Schaefer was joined by players Madison Booker, Breya Cunningham and Bryanna Preston at the SEC Tipoff event in Birmingham, Ala. This was Booker’s third straight SEC Tipoff while Cunningham and Preston were making their debuts at the conference’s media days for its men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Here are three observations from the Longhorns’ day in Birmingham:

Vic Schaefer: more (minutes) out of Breya Cunningham

Schaefer talked extensively about what he needs from Cunningham this season. After joining the Longhorns last season after two years at Arizona, Cunningham started 38 times at center and averaged 7.7 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 59.1 percent from the floor. The senior, however, has averaged only 18.8 minutes per game.

Part of that’s been due to Texas having Kyla Oldacre as an option off the bench. Cunningham’s consistent foul troubles didn’t help matters, though. She averaged 2.9 fouls per game, and the 6-foot-4 Californian fouled out four times during a five-game stretch in SEC play.

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Oldacre is now playing professionally in Japan, so that leaves a bigger role for Cunningham. Schaefer said he wants to get at least 30 minutes a game from Cunningham, whose season-high shift as a junior was 28 minutes.

Texas has question marks on its depth chart behind Cunningham. The 6-6 Lovisa Asbrink Hose redshirted last season, and transfer forward Jada Bediako was recently lost to an Achilles injury. Freshman Brihanna Crittendon is the only other Longhorn taller than 6-foot-2.

Schaefer looks back at Mississippi State debut

It was pointed out during Schaefer’s news conference that he’s the first coach to lead multiple Division I women’s basketball teams to multiple Final Fours. Schaefer’s Mississippi State teams reached the 2017 and 2018 national championship games and Texas has reached the Final Four in each of the past two years.

On Wednesday, Schaefer was asked for the keys to his success. “I’m not sure there’s a specific formula,” he said. “I think for me, we’ve always prided ourselves on being a tough, physical, aggressive basketball team.”

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Schaefer recalled a game from his first season at Mississippi State, which went just 13-17 that 2012-13 season. One of those wins, however, was against No. 11 Georgia, which the Bulldogs held to 38 points in a 12-point upset.

“College athletics, everybody’s all about the psychedelics,” Schaefer said. “They’re all about the scoring and how many points you get, I’m talking about every sport. But if you can guard, if you can defend, if your defense is elite, you’ve got a chance every night. All those teams that we’ve had that have been successful, they’ve been really elite defensively.”

Schaefer congratulates Bill Fennelly on his retirement

In his opening statement, Schaefer took time to honor Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly, who earlier this week announced he will step down after this season and end a 32-year run with the Cyclones.

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Over his time at Texas and Mississippi State, Schaefer has gone 10-2 against Fennelly’s Cyclones. Texas and Iowa State split their showdowns in the 2023 and 2024 Big 12 championship games, and Schaefer recalled a memorable overtime game that Mississippi State played in Ames during the 2016-17 season.

“Iowa State may find another basketball coach, but it will be very difficult to replace the person,” Schaefer said in a statement Monday to the American-Statesman. “Women’s basketball has lost one of the all-time greats in our game.”

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This article originally published at Texas women’s basketball: Vic Schaefer talks Breya Cunningham and defense at SEC Tipoff.