TCU Women Fall To Iowa State
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AMES, Iowa – TCU came up short Saturday night, falling to No. 24 Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum, 68-52.
It was a tale of two halves for the Horned Frogs Saturday as they shot 42.9 percent from the field during the first half, but couldn’t connect on a couple of key possessions midway through the second frame of play.
On the night, TCU trailed at the break by five, but Iowa State showed why they are currently ranked in the top 25, going on a 17-3 run to open the second half. A young Horned Frog squad appeared to have stymied the Cyclone run, cutting it back down to 14 at the 10-minute mark, but a veteran led Iowa State team responded in front of an electric 9,745 in attendance to ultimately come away with the victory.
Zahna Medley led TCU on the night with 11 points, which included the Illinois native going 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Fellow freshman Kamy Cole chipped in with nine points, while sophomore Donielle Breaux added seven.
The Cyclones were carried by Chelsea Poppens’ game-high 24 points and 15 boards, while Hallie Christofferson added 14 points on 5-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-9 from deep.
For a majority of the night, the Frogs’ bench did most of the damage, outscoring Iowa State, 24-8, but couldn’t get over the hump in the end. With the loss, TCU fell to 7-8 overall and
0-4 in league play. The Cyclones improved to 12-2 overall and 3-1 in conference action.
Iowa State opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 35-24 lead early on, but Natalie Ventress ended the run, draining a three-ball from the top of the key at the 17:05 mark. ISU answered though with a 11-0 run to take a 46-27 lead before Latricia Lovings went to work down low. The junior received the pass from Medley in the middle of the lane and turned to her right to power home a jumper plus the foul midway through.
With the scoreboard reading 49-30 in favor of the Cyclones with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the contest, Medley stepped back and tickled twine from deep. TCU appeared to have something cooking as Cole then drove the baseline and flushed home a running layup to pull the Frogs within 14. Just like they had done for a majority of the night though, Iowa State responded, pushing its lead to 22.
TCU continued to battle though as Cole found Caitlin Diaz for a nifty layup down the stretch. A few plays later, Whitney Williams drilled a running jumper off the backboard to bring the Frogs back within 22 at the 3:31 mark of the contest. TCU would cut it to 16 in the closing minute, but weren’t able to complete the comeback.
The Frogs made it a 3-2 game early when Ventress found Ashley Colbert for a running layup three minutes into the contest. A few plays later, Breaux split two defenders and drove the lane for a bucket to make it 5-4 in slight favor of the Cyclones at the 16:11 mark of the opening frame.
Breaux would gain the Frog lead at 6-5 two minutes later, weaving her way through traffic and scoring a tough layup. Medley then went to work, tickling the twine from deep with 13:41 showing on the scoreboard. The freshman would continue her hot shooting on the very next possession, hitting her second-straight three to give the Frogs a 12-5 advantage. During the stretch, TCU turned up its defensive pressure, forcing three Cyclone turnovers, while holding ISU 0-for-5 from the field.
TCU was in the midst of a 10-0 run when Iowa State calmly ended the Frog run by going on a 7-1 run of its own to pull within one at 13-12 midway through the first half. Cole would have nothing of it though drilling a triple to make the scoreboard read 16-12 at the 7:39 mark of the opening period.
The two teams would go back and fourth during the last five minutes of the half, but Iowa State battled back to take a 23-20 lead down the stretch. Breaux hit two-straight at the charity stripe to pull the Frogs within one, but Iowa State pushed its advantage to 29-22 before Cole ended the opening frame with a running layup.
TCU will stay on the road to take on West Virginia Tuesday, Jan. 15. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. CT.
