Steve Sarkisian hypes up Longhorns as Texas bags Big 12 championship title against Iowa State: "Light the tower y'all"

The Texas Longhorns women's basketball defeated the Iowa Cyclones 70-53 in the Big 12 championship game on Tuesday for their second title in three years under coach Vic Schaefer.

It was the Longhorns' twelfth win in their last 13 games and their final Big 12 game as they depart for the Southeastern Conference next season due to conference realignment and expansion moves.

Texas Longhorns football coach Steve Sarkisian acknowledged the effort by the women's basketball team on his Instagram stories with the caption:

"Light the tower y'all."

The UT Tower is traditionally lit up in Texas burnt orange to celebrate any of their teams winning a conference championship.

Steve Sarkisian's IG

Texas wins the Big 12 championship

Vic Schaefer has led Texas to a 30-4 overall, 14-4 Big 12 record this season and during the championship game, they shot 7-for-11 (64%) from deep and 28-for-61 (46%) from the field.

The Longhorns' Madison Booker registered 26 points, six rebounds and five assists. She was later named the Big 12 Player of the Year and became the first freshman to win the award.

During the postgame news conference, the Cyclones guard Emily Ryan pointed out the Longhorns' offensive strength and accuracy during the game as a key factor to the win.

"They're a super talented team and they have a lot of talent at different spots," said Ryan. "It's hard to pick and choose and they were hitting a lot of tough shots tonight."

Bill Fennelly, the Iowa State coach, also complimented the Longhorns during his postgame news conference.

"Phenomenal team. They looked like a Final Four team," said Bill Fennelly.

Schaefer campaigned for his team to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament during his postgame news conference.

"Look what they've done. Look at the gantlet we just went through, three of the last four days," Schaefer said. "Every game we lost, I think they were all one-possession games (Texas has lost its four games by a total of 14 points). Again, our NET going into tonight I think was a 3. When you win a league, when you win a championship in a league, you play the schedule these kids have played, I don't know what else we could do.

"I think our body of work, they're 30-4 with a NET of 3. Ain't nobody else got that. So, I mean, they've earned it in my mind. But you know what? I don't think this group (cares). They don't, I do, but they don't."

The Texas Longhorns finished the week as No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 4 in the coaches poll as teams head to the NCAA Tournament in a few weeks.