Women’s Basketball: No. 10 TCU bests No. 17 Baylor to earn program’s first Big 12 Championship

Horned Frogs complete the season sweep of Bears with 51-48 win in Waco

A season of firsts and record-breaking moments completes with the lifting of a trophy as No. 10 TCU Women’s Basketball won the outright Big 12 regular season Championship for the first time in program history, defeating No. 17 Baylor 51-48 in a winner-take-all battle for the conference crown in Waco on Sunday evening.

In a physical defensive slugfest, Sedona Prince led the Frogs with 16 points and 19 rebounds with two blocks, while Hailey Van Lith added 14 strong points. The TCU defense held Baylor to just 18 made field goals, its fewest since the 2022 NCAA Tournament as the Bears shot just 2-12 on three-point attempts.

Whether the butterflies of the moment, the Foster Pavilion crowd, or the swarming defending, but both teams struggled to find the bucket to open the game. For the Frogs, it was all Prince in the first quarter, showing off the lethal mid-range jumper to score 10 of TCU’s 12 points in the opening frame. Despite missing all five of its three-point attempts in the opening quarter, TCU held a five point lead at the break by holding Baylor to 15% shooting from the field.

Baylor kept things close in the second quarter as the officials struggled to manage the physical play on both ends of the court, granting the Bears five free throw attempts in the quarter while TCU was only offered a single FT the entire first half. Combatting the discrepancy at the charity stripe, TCU finally began draining from long range. After missing all five three-point attempts in the first quarter, Donovyn Hunter, Hailey Van Lith, and Agnes Emma-Nnopu each made their lone three in the quarter. It was Van Lith taking over with seven points in the quarter, including a sequence where he swatted a shot in paint, got a bucket and a foul on the offensive end, and blocked the next Baylor shot. Van Lith closed the half with a nasty crossover step-back jumper at the buzzer to give the Frogs the five point advantage at halftime

Madison Conner opened the third quarter with a ‘shooters shoot’ triple after being held scoreless in the first half, giving TCU its biggest lead of the game to that point. Baylor followed with three straight buckets and eventually took its first lead since a 3-2 advantage in the game’s opening minutes as Aaronette Vonleh began to go to work for the Bears, scoring ten points in the period. With its lead erased, the Horned Frogs never let the game fully fall into Baylor’s hands, with Sedona Prince keeping TCU afloat with seven rebounds and a sweet assist to a hard cutting Van Lith. TCU closed the quarter with four straight points to carry a slim lead into the final frame

TCU broke the game open to start the fourth quarter with a trio of triples from Taylor Bigby, Emma-Nnopu, and Conner, ballooning the Horned Frogs advantage to 9. However those would be the last field goals would make for the remainder of the contest. Van Lith would extend the lead to double digits from the free throw line with under two minutes to play, but Baylor was never going to just let TCU run away with the game and the Horned Frogs began making uncharacteristic mistakes under the weight of the moment. TCU committed three turnovers in the final minute as Donovyn Hunter struggled to inbounds the ball of multiple occasions and the Baylor full court press hassled TCU ball-handlers. With opportunities to put the game out of reach, the Frogs missed four free throws in the final 30 seconds, shooting just 50% from the line in the fourth quarter, including misses from Conner (85% on the season) & Van Lith (80%). With TCU leading by three, Baylor’s long range shot was missed and rebounded by Hunter who was sent to the line with 2 seconds remaining, needing one made FT to secure the win, but she missed both and Baylor got one more desperation attempt at magic. The halfcourt heave was late and bounced harmlessly off the backboard. The TCU sideline erupted and the Horned Frogs were crowned Big 12 Champions for the first time in program history

Earning the top seed in this week’s Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, TCU has a double bye into the quarterfinals and will play its first game on Friday March 7 at 1:30 PM on ESPNU, taking on one of 16-seed Houston, 9-seed Colorado, or 8-seed Arizona. Should the Horned Frogs continue winning, the semifinal is Saturday afternoon and the final is Sunday March 9 at 4:00 PM. The Horned Frogs remain in strong position for a top-4 seed in the NCAA Tournament which would mean hosting the first & second rounds at Schollmaier Arena.

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