Hey, South Carolina, don’t look now, but someone’s gaining ground. Kim Mulkey, you and LSU can wear whatever you want; there’s another team wearing out opponents. Iowa and Caitlin Clark, you got company. You, too, USC; make some room. Juju Watkins ain’t the only freshman star still playing ball.

Texas is here, too. Still here, in case no one noticed.

And Vic Schaefer’s Longhorns are playing some serious basketball. Really serious.

They deserve their due nationally because they’re damn good. And should be appreciated.

They’ve got the best defensive coach in women’s basketball.

They’ve got a dynamic freshman who will win national player of the year before she leaves Texas for the WNBA in a few years.

They’ve got a collection of selfless, gritty players who want nothing more than to cut down the nets in April.

More: This Sweet 16 looks solid, but I can't say the same for my March Madness bracket | Bohls

A year away? Not so fast.

Some can’t wait until Rori Harmon, their injured warrior, returns to the lineup next season and joins Booker for a lethal one-two punch. To heck with that. Time’s now, and these hungry Horns — who will play North Carolina State in Sunday's Elite Eight for a berth in the Final Four — see no reason they can’t ride their wave of momentum and keep on winning, no matter who’s wearing the jerseys on the other bench.

Sure, the Gamecocks are women’s basketball’s only unbeaten team, but did you know that Texas’ scoring margin of 23.3 points ranks fourth in the nation? Yes, Mulkey’s wardrobe might be wilder than Miley Cyrus’, but Schaefer can rock some tailored suits. Clark might be the first lady of women’s basketball, but Shaylee Gonzales has topped 2,300 career points.

What we’re getting at is Texas belongs, too.

It should be clearly obvious by now: Texas belongs

The Longhorns have shown they are entirely capable of beating anybody and being elite.

More: Texas blasts by Gonzaga to advance into Sunday's Elite 8 against North Carolina State

They’ve been flying under the radar so much that the rest of the country probably thinks Austin’s totally focusing on finding Quinn Ewers some wide receivers. Hey, that’s important and all, but the Fighting Madison Bookers are hogging the local headlines these days and deservedly so.

And guess what? In as dominant a performance as Texas has had all year long, the Longhorns flexed their considerable muscles Friday night and showed it’s no one-woman team.

Or maybe it is, come to think of it.

A battery of Longhorns just took turns taking the lead. It’s one woman for one quarter, another for the next. For a while in Friday's Sweet 16 win over Gonzaga in Portland, it was Gonzales running the show and drilling three 3-pointers among her 15 points, many of them early to set the tone.

Then it was fellow senior Shay Holle, normally the lockdown defender, who also chipped in two treys and scored 12 points and seemed to be all over the court.

And when she wasn’t on the floor scrambling for loose balls and limping off or playing through discomfort, do-it-all junior Aaliyah Moore hogged the show with 14 points, nine rebounds and even five assists. Not bad for a dehydrated player who suffered cramps late in the game and afterward said, “I’m going to drink 10 bottles of water tonight. And 10 tomorrow, too.”

But she and the Longhorns are thirsting for more.

More: Despite NFL defections, oddsmakers peg Texas for College Football Playoff | Golden

When the Zags zigged, the Longhorns zagged

Oh, yeah, and Booker played OK, too. Kind of like a normal player, though, instead of the freshman Big 12 co-player of the year. She was dogged by foul trouble, picking up two quick ones, and some rare ball-handling and passing mistakes with seven turnovers.

And while Booker was soldered to the bench for all but seven minutes of the first half, Schaefer was forced to look elsewhere for someone to take the lead.

And lead they did.

Schaefer had a whole cast of individuals who took turns carrying the team and rode that versatility and depth into the Elite Eight for the third time in four years. Teams don’t go 33-4 by accident. As big a factor as the tenacious teamwork was, Texas’ trademark defense was on full display and is not to be discounted when it takes on the third-seeded Wolfpack.

“They pressured,” Zags coach Lisa Fortier said. “They're really physical. I think they took us out of position. Sometimes they try to blow up the handoffs, the ball screens. Their pressure was a lot.”

More: Texas football's David Gbenda: Transfer players fit in fine with Longhorns' team culture

Texas hopes to keep its defensive momentum rolling

Quite simply, Texas produced a defensive masterpiece, not that anyone should be shocked by that since it’s Schaefer’s stock in trade. Moore even called him “the secretary of defense” after the Longhorns posted their 15th win in their last 16 games.

Asked if this was the toughest defense they’d faced, Gonzaga guard Kaylynne Truong said, “It's Texas ball. It's physical. Most aggressive? I don't know. There's a lot of teams we played this year that have thrown many defenses at us. We took ourselves out of it.”

Munch on sour grapes much?

Entering this showdown, Gonzaga had made more 3-pointers than any other team in the nation. Not to worry. Texas suffocated the Zags, holding them to 18% accuracy and only four bombs in 22 tries. The Longhorns? They had more with five in just 10 tries.

The West Coast Conference Zags averaged 81 points a game, the 10th-most prolific scoring team in America. No sweat. Texas held ’em to a season low in points with 47, a wild 34 under the Zags’ average.

Yeah, that’s Texas ball all right.

Even with Booker having an off night and center Taylor Jones held out as a precaution after hitting her head in a fall against Alabama in the second-round game, the Longhorns overwhelmed the Zags.

Consider that Texas in three NCAA Tournament games has trailed for all of 3 minutes, 41 seconds out 120 minutes. Which is about as long as Schaefer and this bunch spent celebrating Friday night’s win.

There’s much work still to be done.

Plenty of time for applause later.

Sunday's Elite Eight

No. 1 Texas (33-4) vs. No. 3 North Carolina State (30-6), 2 p.m., ABC, 98.1

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas women's basketball is quickly making a name for itself