Number three seeded TCU Women’s Basketball opened their March Madness campaign with a dominant 86-40 win in the first round over number 14 seeded UC San Diego. TCU had two players record double-doubles, one player record a triple-double, and one player score 27 points on 80% shooting from the field in a victory that was never in doubt. The Frogs jumped out to a 23 point lead in the first half and did not let their foot off the gas, holding UC San Diego to just 15 total points in the second half.
After a tough performance in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game, the Horned Frogs bounced back and looked like their usual selves on both ends of the floor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Taylor Bigby scored a career high 27 points on eight of ten shooting from the field and seven of nine shooting from three point range against Washington. Bigby also tallied three rebounds, one assist and two blocks in her best game as a Horned Frog. With defenses keying in on Olivia Miles and Marta Suarez this postseason, Bigby’s ability to knock down threes and attack closeouts will be key to TCU’s postseason run. Olivia Miles recorded her sixth triple-double of the season with 12 points, 16 rebounds, 14 assists, two steals and one block. Miles’s 14 assists set a new program record for assists in a game as she carved up whatever coverage the UC San Diego defense threw at her.
Clara Silva recorded a very efficient double-double, knocking down 75% of her shots from the field on the way to 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and four blocks. Silva’s presence on the defensive end was a big reason why UC San Diego managed just 14 points in the paint all game. Marta Suarez was the second Frog with a double-double, tallying 11 points, ten rebounds, one assist and one steal. Suarez showed off her physicality on the offensive glass, collecting six offensive rebounds against the Tritons. Veronica Sheffey provided solid minutes off the bench for the Horned Frogs with 12 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Sheffey shot over 50% from the field in an impactful 20 minutes of action.
TCU shot the ball very well against UC San Diego, making 49% of their shots from the field and 50% of their attempts from three point range. Five Frogs scored in double figures and seven Frogs recorded an assist in a well rounded offensive outing for TCU. The Horned Frogs were by far the more physical team on Friday as they outrebounded the Tritons by a margin of 56-28. That physicality showed up on the defensive end as well as TCU blocked ten shots and collected six steals as a team. UC San Diego shot just 23% from the field and 17% from three thanks to a great effort by the Frogs on the defensive end of the floor. The Frogs played a very complete game and will make a deep run this postseason if they continue to play like they did on Friday.
The Frogs will take on the number 6 seeded Washington Huskies in the round of 32 on Sunday at 9:00 pm in Fort Worth. The Huskies are 22-10 on the season and finished with a 10-8 record in Big 10 play. Washington comfortably took down South Dakota State in the first round thanks in part to a great performance from guard Avery Howell who finished with 30 points and nine rebounds. Howell and Sayvia Sellers are the two players to watch from the Huskies as they are averaging 14.2 and 18 points per game respectively and are the two main options for the Washington offense.
