Number 17 ranked TCU women’s basketball fell in a heartbreaker on the road this Sunday against Colorado by a final score of 80-79. A layup from Donovyn Hunter gave the Frogs a two point lead with five
seconds remaining, but Colorado responded with an and-1 to take the lead with two seconds left. Olivia Miles’s game winning attempt missed and the Frogs picked up their second loss in the last three games. The good news for Frog fans is that TCU remains just one game back of first place in the Big 12 with a 9-3 record in conference play and a 21-4 overall record.
Olivia Miles played a great game in the loss with 31 points, five rebounds, one assist and two steals. Miles shot over 50% from the field, 44% from three and turned the ball over only twice in 33 minutes of playing time. Marta Suarez continued her scoring streak with 20 points, five rebounds and two assists. Suarez’s aggressiveness on offense has returned the past few games and the TCU offense has benefited from it. Donovyn Hunter was the third Frog in double figures with 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Hunter was also very efficient in her scoring, shooting 67% from the field and 33% from three while finishing the game with no turnovers. Miles, Suarez, and Hunter scored 68 of TCU’s 79 points against the Buffaloes as the rest of TCU’s roster struggled to score against Colorado. While the offense was far from the biggest issue for the Frogs, TCU will need more contributions from other players in the lineup to find their footing down the stretch.
The Horned Frogs shot the ball very well on Sunday, making 54% of their attempts from the field and 35% of their attempts from beyond the arc. TCU did a good job limiting turnovers against Colorado as well with just 10 as a team. The Horned Frogs won the rebounding battle by a margin of 31-27. The one area the Frogs struggled in, however, was on the defensive end of the floor. The TCU defense, which has been rock solid for most of this season, let Colorado make 49% of their field goal attempts and 46% of their three point attempts. The Horned Frogs did not force many turnovers either as the Buffaloes totaled just eight all game. 80 points is the most Colorado has scored in a Big 12 game this season as the Buffaloes average just 68.6 points per game. TCU has to do a better job of defending without fouling moving forward as the Frogs had two starters foul out down the stretch.
The Horned Frogs have a chance to bounce back in a major way this Thursday night at 6:00 pm as they will travel to Waco to take on number 12 ranked Baylor. The Bears sit atop the Big 12 conference standings and TCU can take a big step toward defending their Big 12 title with a win on Thursday. Baylor has won two straight games by narrow margins with a six point win over Cincinnati and a three point win over Arizona State their last time out. Sophomore guard Taliah Scott is the leading scorer for the Bears at 20.3 points per game. The TCU defense will need to do a good job running her off of the three point line as she averages 2.5 made threes per game.
