No. 12 TCU got back into the win column with a 67-50 victory on the road over the UCF Knights. All five starters scored at least eight points as TCU played a well rounded, clean game to bounce back from
a loss to Ohio State in their previous game. The Frogs started quickly, with a nine point lead after the first quarter and a 21 point lead heading into halftime, and finished strong, out scoring the Knights 19-18 in the fourth quarter. The Horned Frogs sit just half a game back of first place in the Big 12 at 7-1 in conference play and 19-2 on the season overall.
Olivia Miles filled up the stat sheet against UCF with an efficient 17 point, six rebound, six assist, and one steal outing. Miles needed just ten shots from the field to score her points, making 70% of her field goal attempts and 100% of her free throws.
Donovyn Hunter joined Miles in double digits with 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Hunter has been a very consistent perimeter defender for the Horned Frogs this season and has done a good job of taking advantage of her scoring opportunities when she gets the chance. The junior guard has taken a major step forward on the offensive end, more than doubling her points per game from last season while also improving her efficiency, shooting a higher percentage from the field and from three.
Taylor Bigby was the third Frog in double figures and has now scored over ten points in both of her starts since Maddie Scherr went down with an injury. Bigby finished with 11 points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. Bigby did an excellent job filling the three-and-D role for the Frogs, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc and playing impactful defense on the other end.
Clara Silva narrowly missed a double-double with eight points, ten rebounds, three assists, one steal and four blocks. Marta Suarez had a good outing against the Knights, tallying eight points, seven rebounds and two steals with no turnovers.
TCU did not have its best game from three point range, making just 27% of their shots from deep, but did a great job getting to the basket with 40 points in the paint as a team. By far the most encouraging statistic was a decrease in turnovers by the Frogs. After struggling with turnovers the past few games, including in the loss to Ohio State, the Horned Frogs totaled just 11 turnovers all game. Even while shooting the three poorly, TCU was able to win the game by a comfortable margin in large part due to decreased turnovers.
Defensively, the Horned Frogs were rock solid, holding UCF to just 33% shooting from the field and 33% shooting from three. TCU did a great job of defending without fouling as the Knights attempted just 11 free throws all game. The Frogs won the rebounding battle as well by a margin of 42-32. All in all, this was a comfortable road win for the Horned Frogs where they showed some needed improvement on a few nagging issues.
TCU will be back in action this Thursday night at 5 p.m. in Fort Worth with a game against the Kansas Jayhawks with an opportunity to move into a tie for first place in the conference with a win. The Jayhawks are 3-6 in Big 12 play and 13-8 overall this season and are coming off of back to back wins against Arizona and Kansas State. Kansas’s offense is humming right now as they scored over 80 points and won by double-digit points in each of their last two games.
