Women’s Basketball: No. 11 TCU rides 30-point outing from Sedona Prince to victory at Kansas

The Horned Frogs center recorded her seventh double-double of the season

Delayed a day by weather, the 11th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs found itself in a battle in in Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday afternoon, outlasting the Kansas Jayhawks (11-4; 1-3 Big 12) 80-73 to improve to 16-1 on the season and continue unbeaten through four Big 12 contests. Sedona Prince starred for the Frogs, scoring 20 points in the first half as part of a 30-point outing, earning her seventh double-double of the season with a game-best 14 rebounds. The star center also added three blocked to her nation-leading tally. Guards Hailey Van Lith and Taylor Bigby also scored in double-digits, taking over in the fourth quarter with 17 combined points in the final frame to secure the TCU victory.

The first quarter was an even battle of high-level interior basketball as both teams shot 60% from the field, each only attempting a single three-point shot. Madison Conner was held off the score sheet in the opening period, picking up two fouls. With the Jayhawks focusing defensive efforts on preventing the deep shots, TCU turned to its playmaking distributors to get the ball down low for Prince to cook. The Frogs assisted on six of its nine made shots in the first quarter as Prince poured in 12 points. Even with that hot outing, Kansas carried a one-point advantage into the break as S’Mya Nichols scored seven for the Jayhawks.

The second quarter was where the Horned Frogs took control of the game, with a Taylor Bigby steal leading to a Sedona Prince bucket to give TCU a lead it would never relinquish. It was a stifling TCU defense in the quarter taking three steals and allowed Kansas only three made shots. KU still scored 13 in the frame thanks to two of those shots being from long range while also making five free throws. However, it was another dominant period for Prince, outrebounding the Jayhawks herself with six boards while pouring in eight more points. It was again the elite vision & playmaking from TCU’s guards, dishing six dimes on TCU’s seven made shots.

The second half continued the back-and-forth affair as TCU was never able to fully extend its lead run away with the game. The Jayhawks cut TCU’s lead to as little as three points on multiple occasions throughout the third quarter as KU guard Elle Evans kept drawing fouls and making 3FGs, scoring 10 in the quarter to keep Kansas within striking distance. However, Madison Conner & Hailey Van Lith also found their range with a pair of three-pointers each and the Horned Frogs parade of clutch free throw shooting began as Aaliyah Roberson and Sedona Prince combined to shoot 6-7 from the line in the third quarter.

Kansas shot over 57% from the field in the fourth quarter while defensively deploying a strategy of extending the game by fouling. TCU countered that strategy with clutch free throw shooting shooting 82% from the charity stripe, making nine FTs to ultimately ice the game. Taylor Bigby exploded in the final frame, scoring 8 points on 75% shooting, including a clutch three-pointer and converted a strong and-one opportunity. The contest got very nervy late for the Horned Frogs as Kansas made it a one-possession game with 30 seconds to play, but HVL & Conner combined to go 4-4 from the free throw line in the final moments while erasing the Jayhawks’ final offensive efforts, escaping Lawrence with a seven point victory.

The Horned Frogs will be back on the road on Saturday evening in Lubbock to take on Texas Tech (12-5; 1-3 Big 12). The Red Raiders have lost just once United Supermarkets Arena this season, an 89-53 blow out on Wednesday at the hands of No. 17 West Virginia.