Women’s Basketball: TCU advances to Elite Eight with 71-62 win over Notre Dame

Horned Frogs overcome 9-point 2nd half deficit to down Fighting Irish for 2nd time this season

It’s rare to classify a 2-seed reaching a regional final as a Cinderella tale, but in the case of the TCU Horned Frogs, the glass slipper fits. Just two years removed from a 1-17 Big 12 campaign and just one year removed from needing to hold open tryouts on campus to fill out the roster, head coach Mark Campbell has led TCU into the Elite Eight for the first time in program history thanks to a 71-62 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday.

Led by a pair of All Americans, the Fighting Irish were heavily favored heading into the game, but it was TCU’s terrific trio that dominated the day. Hailey Van Lith, Madison Conner, and Sedona Prince combined for 60 points as the Frogs shot 50% from the field and an exceptional 22-24 from the free throw line. Hailey Van Lith was simply phenomenal, an unstoppable force driving to the basket, a facilitator for teammates, and a sharpshooter splashing daggers at the game’s most critical moments.

It wasn’t just the TCU offense that put on a show in Birmingham on Saturday, the Frogs erased some of the nation’s best scorers. Donovyn Hunter was tasked with slowing Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo who ranks 3rd in the country in scoring with over 24 points per game. Hunter & the Frogs held Hidalgo to the worst shooting performance of her career: 3-19 from the field with zero made from beyond the arc. As a team, the Irish shot under 32% from the field and just 3-15 from long range. TCU proved to be the kryptonite to the super-shooting Irish It was Notre Dame’s worst shooting performance of the season. Its second worst: a November loss at the hands of the Horned Frogs. Sedona Prince blocked six shots, Van Lith added a block & a steal, and Agnes Emma-Nnopu swatted three shots and swiped two steals to lead the lockdown effort.

The Horned Frogs sprinted out of the gate to open the game, as Emma-Nnopu & Conner each knocked down threes and every Horned Frog starter would go on to score during the game’s opening minutes and TCU would shoot 64% in the first quarter. Meanwhile Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles was held off the scoresheet and the Irish were 1-5 on three-point attempts. However TCU committed five turnovers in the quarter and during the final minute Notre Dame was able to go on a 6-0 run and cut the Horned Frogs’ lead to just a point at the first break.

The run continued into the second quarter for another five points before Conner checked back into the game and immediately drilled a three pointer. It would be the only three-point attempt TCU would make during the period as the Frogs would make just three field goals in the second quarter, allowing Notre Dame to carry a lead into halftime. Despite the lack of scoring in the run of play and TCU’s continued turnover struggles, the Frogs trailed by just two points at the break thanks to the help of four strong rebounds and a pair of made free throws from Donovyn Hunter to close the half.

The second half played to a similar script as the first matchup in November. The Irish came out with a fury, strutting their stuff and building a lead that grew as big as nine points. But then the HVL & Prince show began to take over, going on an 8-0 run that featured multiple blocks & steals defensively by both TCU standouts. The foes traded buckets for the remainder of the third quarter, with the Frogs trailing by just a point, having sustained the Irish’s toughest punches.

Not only did the Frogs recover from the flurry of punches, they came out in the 4th quarter throwing haymakers of their own, looking to deliver the knockout blow, opening the period with seven straight points, capped off by a nasty dagger three from Van Lith that had her dad – and the entire internet – turned all the way up

It was a complete Van Lith takeover in the 4th Quarter en route to her 5th victory in the Sweet Sixteen, leading three different programs into the Elite Eight. HVL singlehandedly outscored the Fighting Irish in the final quarter, delivering 12 in the period while Notre Dame could only put up 10 points. She and Prince combined for a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line to close the game, leaving no window open for an Irish comeback attempt. During the 4th quarter, Notre Dame’s superstar trio of Hidalgo, Citron, and Miles were a combined 1-13 from the field, a truly phenomenal defensive performance with the game on the line.

The magical run in the Magic City will continue on Monday night as the Horned Frogs will battle for a spot in the Final Four vs. the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns from Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama at 6:00 PM CT, to be broadcast on ESPN.