The University of Texas women's basketball team tips off its second consecutive Final Four tonight — but this year, they've arrived in dominating fashion.

Why it matters: After winning their four tournament games by an average of 35.5 points, the 35-3 Longhorns are two victories away from nabbing their first championship since 1986.

State of play: Led by their do-everything forward, Madison Booker, and their resilient guard, Rori Harmon, UT faces UCLA at 8:30pm on ESPN.

• Texas beat UCLA by 11 points in November.

By the numbers: Booker has scored 90 points through the first four games of this year's NCAA Tournament.

• UT is riding a 12-game winning streak.

Yes, but: All the Final Four teams are No. 1 seeds with similar stellar resumes and tournament experience to boot.

What they're saying: "I don't think you can say too much more about our kids other than they have absolutely played their hearts out," Vic Schaefer, the team's animated head coach, told reporters after a 77-41 blowout victory against second-seeded Michigan on Sunday.

• "Their chemistry is off the chart right now. They're playing for each other. They're having fun. We have really good leadership right now, and this is what happens when you have all that come together."

What's next: If the Longhorns win, they'll face the winner of South Carolina and Connecticut on Sunday at 2:30pm. The games are being played in Phoenix.

• UConn, the New York Yankees of women's college basketball, is the odds-on favorite to repeat as champions.

The intrigue: The same four teams played in last year's Final Four, with UConn besting South Carolina — which had beaten UT in the semifinals in 2025.

The big picture: Texas women's basketball has a storied history, but has long labored in the shadow of the football and men's basketball teams.

• Attendance at women's games has long lagged behind men's games. This season, though, they were nearing parity. Women's games at the Moody Center averaged 9,258 fans; men's games, 10,835.

The bottom line: Schaefer has led the Longhorns out of the wilderness, and now the squad is poised for championship greatness.

More couples are using AI to plan their weddings — even as the big day still depends on humans.

Why it matters: The trend is starting to shape how couples everywhere — including in Austin's customization-heavy wedding scene — think about planning, design and cost.

By the numbers: Over a third of engaged couples now use AI in their wedding planning, nearly double from last year, according to The Knot.

How it works: Tools like Canva — which has a campus in East Austin — can generate custom invites, mood boards and other visuals in seconds, giving couples a quick first draft before turning to vendors.

Between the lines: That speed can run into real-world limits. Some vendors say couples arrive with AI-generated ideas — like flowers or spaces that don't exist — that can't be executed.

What they're saying: "While couples are turning to AI initially, they're looking for trust," The Knot's Esther Lee says. "There are some things that just cannot be replicated by machines."

💭 Asher's thought bubble: My sister-in-law officiated our backyard Austin wedding 15 years ago, and very much did not turn to AI to come up with this poignant Robert Frost poem as part of her remarks.

The bottom line: AI may help draft the vision, but real people still make the day happen.

🏫 Leander public school officials are projecting a budget deficit as high as $13.7 million next year as they plan for cuts. (KXAN)

⚖️ A federal trial in Austin against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is spotlighting extreme heat in Texas prisons. (KUT)

🍗 Flyrite Chicken is back in East Austin as a food truck just over a year after the closure of its brick-and-mortar location. (Community Impact)

Answer correctly these three questions and you could win a mention in our Monday edition.

📬 Just reply to this email.

1. Name the former UT quarterback who will be the university's chief commencement speaker this May.
2. Which prominent South Congress hotel is shuttering until 2027 for renovations? (Hint: The name of the hotel is in the question.)
3. Greater Austin ranked sixth for largest numeric population growth between July 2024 and July 2025. Name one of the five American cities that added more people.

👋 Texas managing editor Bob here with a spring garden report.

Driving the news: I picked my first sun gold cherry tomato Wednesday — a month earlier than usual.

Why it matters: As the late Guy Clark once put it, "Only two things that money can't buy/ And that's true love and home-grown tomatoes."

What I did: I stopped by my local garden store, The Great Outdoors on South Congress Avenue, in mid-February, and brought home several tomato transplants, along with cucumbers and peppers.

• The long-range forecast looked mild so I thought the earlier the better to get my summer garden in the ground.
• I covered the plants a week after planting them when lows dipped into the low 40s, but they were mature enough by March to withstand the cold snap that dropped temperatures to the mid-30s.

State of climate: This winter was warmer than normal, gifting us a likely extra month of home-grown tomatoes — and leaving me wondering if mid-February will be my new planting date for the summer garden.