Former Keller star finishes dream week with another basket and Final Four trip
Senior Sarah Graves and Texas women’s basketball are headed back to their second straight Final Four after a 77-41 win over Michigan in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on Monday at Dickies Arena.
Graves is no stranger to the arena, as she grew up 25 minutes from the stadium and had her Keller High School graduation in the venue. The weekend was even more special for her family because her younger sister Rebekah Graves also played in the Sweet 16 at Dickies, with Louisville against Michigan.
After Monday’s victory, Sarah Graves reflected on winning one of the biggest games of her career in her hometown in front of family, friends and former coaches.
“I’m at a loss for words, that’s the problem,” she said. “I mean, I almost started crying on the court again, because looking around me ... hearing everybody cheering your name, is a surreal feeling that I’ll never forget. I mean, I’m so, so blessed. I did nothing to deserve it, so I’m just grateful.”
Keller girls basketball coach Kate Goldberg shared a moment with her former star before the game and previously had gushed about her work ethic and mentality.
“Kate Goldberg came up and gave me a hug before the game, and I almost started crying seeing her for the first time because I haven’t seen her in four years,” Graves said. “College basketball is so hard, it demands so much time, and so to see people that I haven’t seen in four years come out and support me, give them hugs, means the world.”
Though Graves doesn’t play much, she is a fan favorite. When a poster at the game was shown on the jumbotron with the message “Put Sarah In,” cheers erupted all over the arena, which were eclipsed by “We want Sarah” chants.
Then the crowd really erupted when Graves entered the game with a little over two minutes remaining.
“It’s awesome because they’re family, and I’m cheering back for them, like I go over there and take pictures with them and giving them hugs, introducing myself,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m any different from them. Honestly, they probably relate more to me than any of our star All-Americans, so they’re family.”
Graves gave fans more to cheer for when she hit a jumper with 19 seconds left after pump-faking a defender and sidestepping into an open shot.
“I think that I finally made the scouting report,” Graves joked. “They were chasing me really hard off the screens. I think that I pump-faked someone else, and I had another person flying at me. So I think Sarah Graves might have made the scouting report. It might be at first, but yeah, I wasn’t really thinking about the shot. I was thinking about, if I get an open shot, I’m gonna shoot it.”
Graves hit two technical free throws in Texas’ Sweet 16 win over Kentucky, and she thought that might’ve been her only opportunity to see the floor while in Fort Worth.
“I told my teammates that I would owe them dinner if they went up 30, and they did the job,” she said. “That’s why I was going so crazy on the bench, because I knew I’d get another shot at it. So yeah, I thought the free throws was going to be it. But they’re so talented and they’re so amazing, that I got blessed with another opportunity.”
Graves and Texas will play fellow top seed UCLA in the Final Four, looking to win the program’s first NCAA title since 1986 when the Longhorns were members of the Southwest Conference.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 11:15 PM.
