It’s been a season to cherish if you’re a Texas fan. At 19–2 and ranked No. 4 in the country, Vic Schaefer’s Longhorns look like a team built for a deep run come March. But even with all the winning, there’s one criticism the Longhorns just can’t shake: their three-point shooting.

But if you ask head coach Vic Schaefer, he’s adamant that poor three-point shooting doesn’t define this team.

“We’ve had good games where we’ve shot it well, and we’ve had games where we don’t shoot it well,” Schaefer said. “We’ve won 33 and 35 games the last two years, and all y’all want to talk about is our three-point shooting. Y’all need to find something else to pick on us about at Texas Women’s Basketball. And I’m not just talking to you, I’m talking to everybody.”

Three-point shooting is the one thing Texas just can’t seem to figure out. The latest example came of this came in an 80–35 rout of Texas A&M, where they shot a shocking 6% from three, hitting just 1 of 18 three point attempts. Early in the year, when everything looked great for Vic Schaefer’s side, Texas still ranked 298th out of 359 teams in made threes per game at just 4.7.

Right now, Texas has taken 268 threes and made just 84 of them, shooting 31.3% from deep. They also rank  363 nationally in 3-point rate. Those aren’t numbers anyone would brag about, and their losses to LSU and South Carolina might have played out differently if they’d knocked down just a few more shots — they combined for only five made threes across both games.

But like Coach Schaefer keeps reminding everyone, Texas deserves the benefit of the doubt. This is one of the best-run programs in the country, even without elite three-point shooting. Last year they reached their first Final Four since 2003, and guess what? They shot just 30.1% from deep, hitting 122 threes on 405 attempts.

They make up for the lack of threes in other ways. They’re a top-25 offensive rebounding team this season, with 329 offensive boards (15.7 per game), and they’re top-10 at forcing turnovers, already racking up 507 of them (24.1 per game). Add in a No. 2 turnover margin of +13 in the country and you see why they keep winning.

And that’s the kind of dominance Vic Schaefer hopes to see consistently as the Longhorns look to take one more step and reach the title game in April.

What’s next for Vic Schaefer and Co.?

Coach Vic Schaefer has been in the news recently, venting about how SEC scheduling has compromised Texas’ season. Traveling to face LSU and South Carolina back-to-back was never going to be easy, and the Longhorns took losses in both. But they responded with a 45-point win over Texas A&M. Still, the road ahead won’t be nearly that simple.

In their next six games, five will be against ranked opponents. First up is Florida, a matchup Texas shouldn’t have much trouble with. After that, the real test begins. Vic Schaefer’s group will host No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 6 LSU, and No. 18 Kentucky back-to-back-to-back before traveling to face No. 5 Vanderbilt in Nashville and No. 15 Tennessee in Knoxville.

It’s a stretch where Texas will have to deal with elite talent like Mikayla Blakes and Aaliyah Chavez, while also going up against brilliant tacticians like Kim Mulkey and Kim Caldwell. It won’t be easy, but at least Coach Schaefer won’t have to travel much.. so that’s a plus point.

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How many of those ranked games do you think Vic Schaefer and Texas will win? Let us know in the comments below!