TCU athlete hits school milestone

FORT WORTH, Texas – Helena Sverrisdottir became TCU’s all-time leader in assists Saturday afternoon as the Horned Frogs upended UNLV, 68-60, at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

The senior from Iceland was simply dominate during stretches of play Saturday, scoring 19 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, including a stretch in which she netted eight-straight points for the Horned Frogs. During the second half alone, Sverrisdottir, who also posted a career-high in steals Saturday with seven, went 7-of-7 from the floor. She finished the game with 24 points, seven boards, six assists and seven steals. Overall, the All-America candidate, who now has 465 assists for her career, moved past former Frog great Natasha Lacy, who posted 461 assists between 2003-06.

Fellow senior Emily Carter was also solid for TCU Saturday with 13 points, while sophomore Starr Crawford chipped in with eight points, including two key buckets down the stretch to seal the victory.

UNLV, who had 25 turnovers against a pesky Horned Frog defense, had three players score in double-figures, including Erica Helms who posted 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

With the win, TCU, who shot almost 60 percent from the field in the second half, moved to 10-6 on the season and 2-0 in Mountain West Conference play. The Frogs, who are currently on a four-game winning streak, have now won 29 of their last 30 home games at the DMC. UNLV dropped to 7-9 on the season and 0-2 in league play.

Carter drained a three from the top of the key to open the second half to pull the Purple and White within one at 29-28, while Sverrisdottir tied the game at 30-30 the next trip down the court on a running lay-up. DeLisa Gross regained the Frog lead a few moments later, nailing a triple of her own off a pass from Carter.

Up 33-32 with a little over 16 minutes remaining in the second period, Sverrisdottir drove to her left and connected on a tough three-point play to move the TCU lead back to 36-32. UNLV continued to battle though, cutting into the lead the next trip down the court.

The two teams continued to trade possessions until the Lady Rebels tied the game at 38-38 with 13 minutes to go, but Sverrisdottir would not be denied, connecting on her only trey of the half to regain the Frog lead at 41-38.

With the score knotted at 47-47, Sverrisdottir continued to answer, scoring a lay-up off an assist from fellow senior Micah Garoutte.

UNLV took a 51-49 lead at the 8-minute mark, but the Iceland native once again found the bottom the net to tie the game back up on the next possession. The senior would go on to connect on another three-point play the next trip down the court to push the TCU lead to 54-51.

A couple of key free throws regained the Purple and White lead at 58-54 and the Frogs turned up the defensive pressure forcing two-straight UNLV turnovers. Crawford’s tough lay-up down the stretch moved the TCU lead to 63-56 and Carter sank another three to give TCU its biggest lead of the day at 66-56.

The two teams traded buckets and the Frogs connected from the charity stripe to move to 2-0 in conference play with a 68-60 victory over the Lady Rebels.

Crawford got the Frogs going early, scoring a lay-up off a pass from Sverrisdottir. The Frogs connected on another backdoor lay-up a few moments later as Briesha Wynn scored a bucket to make the score 4-0 early.

UNLV jumped out to a 7-4 lead following a 7-0 run, but Gross nailed a triple from the right side of the court to tie the game at 7-7 with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the half.

Latricia Lovings moved the Frog lead to 12-9 at the 9:17 mark of the first half, scoring inside the paint on an assist from Sverrisdottir. The freshman’s bucket was part of an 8-2 run for TCU.

At the 6:25 mark of the first half, Sverrisdottir became the all-time leader in career assists, finding Wynn on a fast-break lay-up to make the score 14-11 at the midway point of the first half. A few moments later, Sverrisdottir got into the scoring act, connecting on one of her two three’s from the left side of the court off a pass from Carter.

The Lady Rebels cut into the deficit down the stretch, making the score 23-22 in favor of the Frogs at the 2:57 mark of the half, but Carter’s steal and lay-up moved the Frogs lead back to three with a little over a minute remaining in the period.

UNLV took a four-point lead off a 7-2 run in the closing seconds of the first half to make the score 29-25 at the break in favor of the Lady Rebels.

TCU will next be in action at Wyoming on Wednesday, Jan. 12.