Number 13 ranked TCU Women’s Basketball dropped their first game of the season on the road at the hands of Utah this past Saturday by a score of 87-77 in overtime. The Frogs struggled to get stops defensively for the first time all season as Utah had five players score in double figures. TCU moved to 14-1 on the season and 2-1 in the Big 12 with the loss against a solid Utah team at the end of a road trip.
Olivia Miles had a very impressive game on the offensive end with 31 points, seven assists and seven rebounds on 50% shooting from the field. Miles did not have her best game shooting from three, but found other ways to score, getting into the paint and finishing through contact consistently. Marta Suarez tallied a double-double against the Utes with 21 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Clara Silva came close to recording the second double-double of the game for the Frogs as she finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
While the Frogs managed to score almost 80 points, it was far from their best offensive performance of the season. TCU shot just 37% from the field and only 23% from three as a team against Utah. The Frogs scored 22 points in the first quarter, but did not score above 20 in a quarter the rest of the game. One specific area to improve on moving forward will be shot selection. TCU took 39 three point attempts against Utah, which was more than half their total field goal attempts in the game, despite struggling to hit shots from deep as a team. TCU has good shooters and can typically rely on their three point shooting for consistent points, but when the three point shot is not falling, TCU has to do a better job adjusting and finding other ways to score.
TCU will have a lot to improve upon defensively from this game as Utah shot 48% from the field and 57% from three as a team. The Frogs struggled to close out to shooters in this game as four Utes knocked down at least two threes. TCU has had excellent interior defense all season, but struggled to contest shots without fouling against Utah with the Utes attempting 33 free throws as a team. One thing the TCU defense did very well was forcing turnovers as Utah tallied 19 turnovers as a team compared to just 22 total assists. TCU did a great job of having their hands in passing lanes resulting in the Frogs tallying 11 steals as a team. The Frogs did a great job limiting offensive rebounds, limiting Utah to just eight offensive boards as a team.
Despite the Frogs playing far from their best game, on the road, against a solid team, it still took a game tying three point shot with 12 seconds left in the game from Utah to send the game to overtime. The fact that TCU still had a very good chance to win this game is a testament to how high this team’s ceiling is.
The Frogs will have a chance to get back in the win column on Wednesday in Fort Worth against Oklahoma State at 6:30 pm. Oklahoma State is off to a 13-3 start this season and is 2-1 in Big 12 play with wins over Cincinnati and Houston and a loss against Baylor. Oklahoma State has a prolific offense with six players averaging double digit points as the TCU defense will need to bounce back quickly for the Frogs to take down the Cowgirls.
