TCU picked up two big road wins as star guard Madison Conner returned from injury.
The Frogs picked up two big wins on the road this week, with a win at Cincinnati by a score of 79-72 and a win at BYU by a score of 68-58 to complete the season sweep of the Cougars. First, was a trip to Fifth Third Arena for a game against the Bearcats. The Frogs had their best offensive performance in a long time with red-hot three-point shooting. TCU shot 40 percent from three as a team, making 14 of 35 attempts. Three-point shooting was the separator between the two teams as TCU scored 42 points from three-point shooting compared to just 24 from Cincinnati. The Frogs also did a solid job getting to the free-throw line with 25 attempts as a team. Converting on them is an area for improvement as the Frogs shot under 70 percent, making just seventeen in the game. TCU did a great job taking care of the ball with only six turnovers as a team the entire game. Defensively, TCU did a very good job limiting the Bearcats’ efficiency as Cincinnati shot just over 36 percent from the field as a team. The Frogs needed to do a better job defending without fouling, however, as Cinci got to the line often, attempting thirty free throws as a team. The Frogs took the lead in the first quarter, outscoring the Bearcats 17-14. The lead would grow to eight points going into halftime with TCU having a strong offensive quarter with 22 points. The Frogs would match the point total in the third quarter, further extending the lead to fourteen points going into the last ten minutes. TCU had to withstand a late Cinci push but held on to the lead and secured the road victory.
The Comeback, pt. 1#GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/AqiSIUhEok
— TCU Women’s Basketball (@tcuwbb) February 19, 2024
The Frogs were helped out in a big way by the return of their star scorer, Madison Conner. Conner went off in her first game back from injury, scoring 31 points in 30 minutes. Conner was on fire from three, knocking down seven of fifteen attempts against Cinci. The five-out offense that TCU has run lately gave Conner great spacing to operate and she took full advantage. Sydney Harris continued her excellent play off the bench with a season-high scoring total of 27 points along with six rebounds and a steal. Harris shot the three ball well yet again, making five of twelve from deep. Una Jovanovich was the third Frog in double figures, scoring ten points and filling out the stat sheet nicely with five rebounds and two assists.
Two-headed monster #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/kSba0f2fhZ
— TCU Women’s Basketball (@tcuwbb) February 19, 2024
The Frogs next took a trip to Provo where an outstanding defensive performance led to the second straight win for TCU. TCU held BYU to just 58 points, their third-lowest total all year, on just 33.9 percent shooting from the field as a team. The TCU defense was especially effective in defending shots from deep as the Cougars shot just 28.6 percent from three as a team. An adjustment was made after the Cinci game to keep opposing players off the free throw stripe as the Cougars shot only ten free throws as a team with the Frogs doing a great job of defending without fouling. The Frogs shot very well from three for the second straight game. TCU knocked down 48.3 percent of their shots from deep, making up 42 of their 68 total points. The Frogs won the rebounding battle against the Cougars 40-33. The turnover numbers were a bit higher in this game for TCU with fourteen on the game compared to just fourteen assists. The first quarter was very tightly contested with both teams putting up seventeen points. Both defenses were great in the second quarter but the Frogs managed to secure a two-point lead going into halftime. The Frog offense would heat up in the third quarter with TCU scoring 21 points and extending the lead to twelve. BYU would make a late push, outscoring the Frogs in the fourth quarter but TCU held strong for the win.
The greatest 3-point shooting team TCU has ever seen #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/oByNLdGdhz
— TCU Women’s Basketball (@tcuwbb) February 22, 2024
The Frogs were led by a great game from Aaliyah Roberson who put up her fourth double-double of the year, scoring 23 points and collecting 13 rebounds. Roberson was very impactful on the defensive end as well with two steals and two blocks against the Cougars. Roberson was very efficient in her scoring, shooting above 50% from the field and right at 50% from three. Agnes Emma-Nnopu was the second Frog in double figures with a great game of her own, scoring seventeen points, collecting nine rebounds, and dishing out three assists. Emma-Nnopu did all of her damage on just eight shots from the field, including four three-pointers on just six shots from deep.
Ready for another round
https://t.co/V09xO6qbB5#GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/FhmlHLECfE
— TCU Women’s Basketball (@tcuwbb) February 24, 2024
The Frogs will look to keep the winning streak going at home against Houston tonight at 6:00 pm. The Cougars are sitting at 13-13 on the year and have won just one of their last five games. Houston can struggle at times offensively as they are shooting under forty percent from the field as a team and under thirty percent from three on the season. Laila Blair, though, is a very dangerous scorer, averaging over sixteen points per game. The Cougars can be prone to turnovers, averaging over fifteen per game compared to just eleven assists per game. Look for the TCU defense to have another suffocating performance against Houston at home.