Stanford women get another crack at Irish after beating Texas 77-66

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Yes, history repeats itself, but this is getting weird. The Stanford women have a rematch Sunday with Notre Dame and a chance to upset the Irish in Lexington for the second straight year.

The second-seeded Cardinal punched their ticket to their 19th Elite Eight in program history with a 77-66 victory over third seed Texas on Friday at Rupp Arena.

Sunday's 9 a.m. game for a berth in the Final Four is "really the rubber match" with Notre Dame, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. "They beat us the year before."

Notre Dame (33-3), ranked No. 2 in the country in the last AP poll, routed Ohio State 99-76 earlier Friday.

Erica McCall had 23 points and 12 rebounds against the Longhorns. She had 27 points in Stanford's 90-84 win over the Irish last year in the regional semifinals, before the Cardinal were upset by Washington in the final.

Asked about coming up big in the biggest games, McCall said, "I try to. ... I feel comfortable in this gym."

The Cardinal trailed the Longhorns 36-29 at halftime before outscoring them 25-13 in the third quarter. The rally started with two three-pointers by Karlie Samuelson, who had gone 1-for-4 from long range in the first half.

"We talked about coming out with more energy in the second half," Samuelson said. "Our energy was a little bit low" in the first half. Assistant coach Kate Paye "always tells me to keep shooting, no matter what."

Stanford's Karlie Samuelson, right, looks for an opening on Texas' Brianna Taylor (20) during a regional semifinal in the women's NCAA college basketball tournament in Lexington, Ky., Friday, March 24, 2017. (AP Photo/James Crisp) less Stanford's Karlie Samuelson, right, looks for an opening on Texas' Brianna Taylor (20) during a regional semifinal in the women's NCAA college basketball tournament in Lexington, Ky., Friday, March 24, 2017. ... more Photo: James Crisp/Associated Press Photo: James Crisp/Associated Press Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Stanford women get another crack at Irish after beating Texas 77-66 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Against the Longhorns (25-9), Stanford got 15 points from Samuelson, 12 from Brittany McPhee and 10 from Alanna Smith.

Ariel Atkins led Texas with 18 points, while freshman Joyner Holmes had 15 points and Kelsey Lang gathered 12 rebounds. But Big 12 Player of the Year Brooke McCarty was held to eight points on 4-for-14 shooting by the tag team of Briana Roberson and Marta Sniezek.

McCarty this season connected on 77 threes, more than half her team's total of 133. Against Stanford, she got only one attempt — and missed it.

"You cannot leave her open for threes," VanDerveer said.

The Longhorns were outrebounded (41-35) for only the fourth time this year. Stanford had 13 offensive rebounds and enjoyed a 20-10 advantage in second-chance points.

"We are hungry," McPhee said. "We really want to make it to the Final Four, since we were a game short of it last year."

Roberson hit what VanDerveer called "one of the biggest baskets of the game" to open a 64-57 spread with 4:24 left. It was also the Cardinal's last basket. They scored their final 13 points at the foul line.

"I thought they executed some things down the stretch really well," Texas head coach Karen Aston said. "Some of it, I think, is just the difference in experience."

Holmes is a very strong 6-3 forward whose development was one of the keys to the Longhorns' success.

"She's really fast and aggressive," McCall said. "I'm really impressed with how she played as a freshman. We knew it was going to be a battle, so we had to keep her off the boards and block her out."

Samuelson said the win "shows our heart. I definitely feel confident going into the next game knowing that we're a fighting team. No matter how far down we get, we're going to come back and fight with every rebound, every shot."

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald