TCU Women Fall Short To No. 11 Oklahoma State
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FORT WORTH, Texas – The TCU women’s basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 49-48 defeat to 11th-ranked Oklahoma State on Wednesday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, falling in the closing seconds to drop to 12-8 overall and 3-5 in Big 12 play.
The Horned Frogs led 34-29 at halftime and maintained their lead until Oklahoma State (18-2, 7-2) buried a 3-pointer at the 10:31 mark, giving the Cowgirls their first lead at 41-40.
With TCU trailing 44-43, OSU’s Tiffany Bias connected on a 3-pointer off an inbounds play with 5:22 remaining to extend the Cowgirl lead to 47-43.
Sophomore guard Zahna Medley answered in a big way, draining her third 3-pointer of the night to cut the deficit down to one with 3:46 left to play.
After the Frogs forced a shot clock violation on defense, Medley penetrated the lane and dished to Veja Hamilton for a go-ahead layup with 2:57 remaining to put TCU back on top, 48-47.
The Frogs forced two more OSU turnovers, including another shot clock violation, but couldn’t convert on the offensive end and the Cowgirls took possession with 30 seconds remaining.
Senior center Latricia Lovings denied the Cowgirls in the paint and forced a
tie up with 18.0 seconds left for OSU’s fourth-straight turnover, but the Frogs failed to capitalize at the free-throw line and Roshunda Johnson sank a jumper with 7.6 seconds left to seal the win.
Junior guard Natalie Ventress led TCU for the second-straight game with 12 points off a 5-of-9 effort from the field, while Medley added 11 points, highlighted by a 3-of-7 performance from 3-point range, to go with five assists.
Lovings was stellar once again with eight points, 12 rebounds and four blocks while limiting her counterpart in the paint to just two points and three rebounds.
The Frogs started the game on a tear, going up 17-9 with under 12 minutes left in the first half, fueled by three treys from Ventress and junior forward Chelsea Prince.
Medley connected on her first trifecta to push TCU to its largest lead of 24-11 at the 8:55 mark, but the Cowgirls answered with a 13-2 run to cut the Frog advantage to just two points with 3:05 remaining.
Medley would strike again with a bucket from long range and Ventress rattled home her second trey of the half en route to the Frogs’ five-point lead at the break.
TCU shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field in the first half while connecting on six of nine 3-point attempts, but cooled down in the final 20 minutes for an overall 39-percent mark (18-of-46).
The Frogs limited Oklahoma State to its lowest scoring output of the season, while the Cowgirls shot just 35 percent (20-of-57) from the field.
TCU returns to action at 7 p.m., on Saturday when its plays host to No. 20 West Virginia at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
