At any point in a typical Texas women’s basketball game, if you want to gauge how it’s going, just look at coach Vic Schaefer. Is he still wearing the jacket or not?

If he’s not, it’s probably a typical back-and-forth affair, maybe even a nail-biter. If he is, the Longhorns must be cruising.

Schaefer sat fully clothed on the bench for most of the fourth quarter Thursday as No. 5 Texas ran all over No. 18 Alabama at Moody Center. This was a top-25 matchup the Longhorns won 84-40. Schaefer’s respect for Bama coach Kristi Curry led to enough subs that kept it from being half a hundred.

“We were as bad as the weather was today,” Curry said. “They deserve all the credit in the world today.”

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Odds are Schaefer’s jacket won’t make it to the first media timeout this weekend when Texas (16-1, 3-0 SEC) gets its first shot at the reigning SEC kingpin South Carolina. The second-ranked Gamecocks have won three national championships and eight league titles since 2015.

It feels like the SEC truly begins Sunday. 

“It’s gonna be fun,” Texas guard Rori Harmon said. “We’re going to be probably going to a sold-out gym. The fans are going to want to see Texas lose more than anything, but we're going to make sure it's a knock-down, drag-out.

“I think the way we came into this game is what we need to do coming into the next game, and we'll be just fine.”

Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer blasts Thursday-Sunday women’s scheduling format in SEC’s ‘Heathen League’

Schaefer preferred the Big 12’s Wednesday-Saturday format to give players Sundays off

Schaefer normally gushes about his team after wins, but even he seemed a little taken aback at what happened in front of about 3,000 fans. Miserable rainy, cold weather in Austin hurt the turnout. But it didn’t stop Madison Booker from going off early, hitting four shots and helping Texas stake a 23-5 lead in the first seven minutes.

Booker finished with a team-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Taylor Jones had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Harmon had 10 points and six assists.

The game was already out of hand when the second quarter began. Still, Texas kept its foot on the gas, as it should. The Horns had a 40-point lead in the third quarter and led by 49 with 3:06 remaining.

“Coach always talks a lot about is being a mature team, taking every possession seriously,” Booker said. “I think we’re still working towards that. You know, turnovers, getting a rebound. So I think the little things in the game, it’s going to help us in the long run with becoming a mature team.”

Alabama (15-2, 2-1) is a completely different team since losing their All-SEC star Sarah Ashlee Barker, who sustained a lower leg injury in Bama’s SEC opener against Florida. But one player wouldn’t have mattered against Texas. Not on this night.

Now, the Horns have to keep that momentum going all the way into Columbia, S.C.

Texas vs. South Carolina? Feels like the SEC season is now really getting cranked up.

“I know they'll be locked in tomorrow at practice, and they'll be excited for the challenge,” Schaefer said. “It’s a basketball game. Nobody’s gonna get killed on Sunday. You know, we gotta go in there and play basketball and compete. That’s it.”

No need to get all tied up in knots, the coach said.

“It's a basketball game. We're pretty good. They're pretty good. Let's go play.”