When two SEC teams meet in the Sweet 16, it’s bound to make for a back-and-forth game.

Two of the league’s heavy-hitters certainly provided that in Birmingham.

Texas held off Tennessee for a 67-59 in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, punching its ticket to an Elite Eight matchup against in-state foe TCU.

“Proud of our kids,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “Hard to do, and, again, not our best night, right? I don’t think anyone thinks that watches us play that that was our best night. We had 14 turnovers, I think we only had 6 at half put we did force 18. Onto the next one.

“As I’ve told ‘em, to me it’s the hardest one to win but they’re going to have an opportunity to get it.”

This marks Texas’ second straight appearance in the Elite Eight and fourth in the last five seasons; victory No. 34 for the Longhorns also tied the program record for most wins in a season.

With the ballgame tied at 50 points each after the third quarter, the Longhorns outscored Tennessee 17-9 in the final period backed by 7 fourth-quarter points from Madison Booker and 6 from Bryanna Preston.

Booker led Texas with a game-high 17 points, going 6-for-15 from the field and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. Two Longhorns came off the bench to score in double figures with Jordan Lee scoring 13 points and Preston adding 12.

“Not only do you have these two veterans here that provide us stability, but these two freshmen down here, they might have been the difference today,” Schaefer said. “This is our juice. This is our energy. They’re so unselfish. They have juice on the bench, they play with juice on the floor. They really stepped up today. 5 for 7, 5 out of 10, 3 for 5 from 3 for Jordan Lee. Just really played well.”

Taylor Jones also scored in double figures with 12 points in the starting forward spot, going 5-for-9 from the field and grabbing a game-high 8 rebounds.

Tennessee’s Ruby Whitehorn finished with a team-high 16 points and shot 7-for-13 from the field, with Zee Spearman adding 13 points and grabbing a team-high 7 rebounds off the bench.

Samara Spencer also scored in double figures with 12 points, adding 4 rebounds for the Vols.

The loss for Tennessee ended a first season under coach Kim Caldwell.