Drew’s Desk: TCU women’s basketball remains red hot

TCU picked up two more wins this past week, extending the winning streak to ten games.

TCU Women’s Basketball extended the win streak to 10 games with a 90-81 win over UCF and an 81-73 win over Oklahoma State with both games taking place in Fort Worth. The Frogs moved to 19-1 on the season and 7-0 in the Big 12 with the wins. TCU remains tied with Kansas State at the top of the Big 12 and just ahead of the Baylor Bears who are 6-1 in conference play. Including the game against Texas Tech last week, the Frogs played three conference games in seven days, and coming out of that stretch unscathed is very impressive.

Ball Movement and Offensive Design

One of the most impressive features of this basketball team has been the buy-in and unselfishness demonstrated by a roster filled with star power. In the game against UCF, the Frogs finished with 29 assists as a team in a 40-minute basketball game. Every starter had at least four assists with Hailey Van Lith leading the way with seven assists to lead all players in the game. The Utah game was no different as the Frogs had almost a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio as a team.

Mark Campbell has done an excellent job of building team chemistry in a short period of time with a roster built almost entirely of transfers. These players have not been playing with each other for a long time but have trust in one another and show a willingness to pass up a good shot to create a great shot for their teammate. Campbell has done a phenomenal job of creating an offensive system to take advantage of the passing ability of his roster. Van Lith is on pace to break the single-season assist record for TCU and thrives working in the pick-and-roll with Sedona Prince to create her own shot, find a shooter if opposing defenses send help, or dump off the ball to Prince for an easy layup.

When Prince gets the ball in the post, the Frogs do a great job of moving without the ball to cut to the basket or relocate around the three-point line. Prince has great court vision and consistently finds cutters and shooters for assists from the post. Madison Connor has been effective in making defenses pay when they send extra help her way by finding who the defense left open. The TCU offense and ball movement have been entertaining to watch this season.

Second Half Defense

Against both Utah and UCF, the Frogs jumped out to big leads going into halftime as TCU led UCF by 15 points and Utah by 21 points. Unfortunately, in both games, the Frogs had too many defensive lapses in the second half, allowing both Utah and UCF to climb back into the game. UCF and Utah both scored 49 points in the second half against TCU, cutting into TCU’s lead and making the games much closer than they should have been. In the game against UCF, the Knights’ guard Kaitlin Peterson led the comeback with 33 points and four of five shooting from three. In the game against Utah, the Utes’ guard Gianna Kneepkens had a solid game offensively with 26 points and four of nine shooting from three. The Frogs have to do a better job identifying when an opposing player is shooting the ball well and make an adjustment to send more help that way.

Donovyn Hunter Spark off the Bench

Oregon State transfer Donovyn Hunter has been a very important player for the Frogs this season and provided great minutes off the bench against Utah and UCF. Against the Knights, Hunter put up 12 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals. Against Utah, Hunter dropped 10 points, five boards and one assist. TCU has a top-heavy roster but the versatility from Hunter and the ability to provide instant offense and solid defense has allowed Mark Campbell to take some of the load off his starters. Strong minutes from Hunter will be key for the Frogs down the stretch of the regular season and for hopefully a long postseason run.

Highlight of the Week

Madison Connor snatching ankles.

Looking Ahead

The Frogs have a big two games coming up this week with a trip to Stillwater to take on number 24 ranked Oklahoma State on Wednesday at 6:30 pm and a home game against Baylor next Sunday at 2:00 pm.