Texas women's basketball cruised past South Dakota State with a 93-63 victory on Wednesday, Nov. 11, to start the 2026-27 NCAA season with a perfect 3-0 record, but the victory was bitter sweet after an injury scare.
Senior Madison Booker was limited to 19 minutes Wednesday night after a hard fall forced her to exit the game ahead of halftime. She didn't return, finishing the night with nine points, there rebounds and two assists.
The incident happened with 1:30 remaining in the second quarter as the Longhorns led the Jackrabbits, 41-31. Booker drove to the basket and went up for a layup, but made contact with South Dakota State's Mahli Abdouch in the air and fell hard on her back and head. Booker immediately grabbed her back area as she writhed
in pain.
Booker was helped to her feet by her teammates after several minutes, but quickly put her hands on her knees to steady herself after stumbling. Booker walked to the bench under her own power and immediately went back to the locker room with a visible limp as she held her lower back area.
A foul was called on the play, but with Booker unable to take the and-1 free throw, Brihanna Crittendon stepped up and tacked on the extra point.
Texas head coach Vic Schaefer was asked about Booker's status following the win, but didn't have an update.
“I don’t really have a lot to give you right now. We’ll see how she responds and go from there," Schaefer said. "We hope she wakes up and feels better than she did today when she couldn't play. I mean, you think about it, Madison Booker didn't play tonight because she didn't feel good. That says a lot about what happened because Maddie's tough, that kid's tough and she loves to play."
Madison Booker exited @TexasWBB’s game against South Dakota State after an awkward fall. Left the court holding her back. pic.twitter.com/HzKOc3me8N
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) November 12, 2026
With Booker out of the lineup, Texas went on to outscore South Dakota State 51-32 the remainder of the game to secure a 30-point win. Sophomore guard Jayda Clark led the way for the Longhorns with 24 points, shooting 10-of-15 from the field and 3-of-4 from the 3-point line. Junior guard Zya Vann added 14 points, while junior guard Bryanna Preston added 11 points, five assists and four steals. Senior forward Breya Cunningham had 10 points and six rebounds.
"Maddie (Booker) is a huge part, if not the biggest part, of our offense and defense really. So yeah, I think when she went down, the first thing through my mind was, 'Okay, yep, let's step it up. I've got some shoes to fill,'" said Clark. "But we have a great team. Everyone can score and I think we actually shared the ball really, really well. And yeah, I kind of found my flow state a little bit, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates looking for me throughout that third quarter."
Booker entered Wednesday's matchup leading the Longhorns in points (27), assists (5.5) and steals (3.5) in her senior season.
She led the Longhorns to back-to-back Final Four appearances. She recorded career-highs in scoring and steals as a junior last season, finishing with double-digit points in all but three games. Booker scored 20 or more points in 15 of those games, including a career-high 40-point performance against Oregon in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 32. Booker went on to earn first-team All-American honors and, for the third consecutive year, won the Cheryl Miller Award, which is awarded to the best small forward in the country.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Madison Booker injury update: Texas star exits game after hard fall on back
