TCU Women Rout Falcons Wednesday, 88-51
FORT WORTH, Texas – Senior Emily Carter scored a game-high 24 points Wednesday as TCU rolled Air Force to close its regular-season at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, 88-51.
The Horned Frogs ended the first half on a 30-8 run and never looked back, leading by as many as 39 Wednesday. With the win, TCU, who avenged its earlier loss to the Falcons, closed its regular-season at 21-9 overall and 13-3 in the Mountain West Conference. The Frogs, who posted their largest margin of victory during conference play this season, locked up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Mountain West Conference Tournament with its win over the Falcons.
Overall, Carter, Micah Garoutte, Rachel Rentschler and Helena Sverrisdottir played in their final home game Wednesday night. The quartet, who has recorded 86 victories during their time in Fort Worth, moved into a tie for No. 5 all-time in winningest classes in program history. The Frogs have also now won 35 of their last 37 home games at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
TCU did most of its damage down low Wednesday, outscoring Air Force in
the paint, 44-18. The Frogs, who dominated the Falcons to a tune of 41-28 on the glass Wednesday, also forced Air Force into 23 turnovers, while recording a 33-9 advantage in points off turnovers. TCU’s bench also got into the act, holding a 36-12 decision, while the Purple and White shot 53.3 percent from the floor, including a blistering 60 percent in first half on 18-of-30 shooting.
Carter netted 24 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from deep in her final game at the DMC. Fellow senior Helena Sverrisdottir was also solid in her final game, scoring 16 points on 4-of-8 from the field. Sophomore Starr Crawford chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Briesha Wynn scored 10 points and added a career-high six assists.
Crawford got the Frogs rolling in the second half, while freshman Meagan Henson nailed a three to make the score 52-26 at the 16-minute mark. Air Force continued to battle though, connecting on three out of its first four buckets.
With about 9 minutes to go in the half, Carter and Wynn pushed the Frog lead to 71-36. Latricia Lovings’ turn-around jumper at the 8-minute mark gave TCU a comfortable advantage.
A 12-0 run by the Falcons inched them as close as 73-48, but the Frogs simply could not be stopped as the Purple and White had nine players score Wednesday night.
Air Force jumped out to an early 5-3 lead, but Sverrisdottir found Carter at the 18-minute mark on a fast-break layup to tie the ballgame during the early stages. Garoutte then hit back-to-back jumpers to increase the Frog lead to 9-5 with a little over 16 minutes to go.
The two teams continued to trade buckets until Carter’s turnaround in the lane, which increased the Frog lead to 17-12 at the 11:31 mark of the first half. Wynn then got into the act, darting into the lane and finding the bottom of the hole to give TCU a 20-12 advantage.
With a little over 9 minutes to go in the half, Carter put on a show, stealing the ball and going between her legs to save it before finding a streaking Sverrisdottir for the wide-open lay-up.
A 24-3 run by the Frogs opened the game wide open as Carter nailed a deep three from the top of the key and Crawford went to work inside the paint with a little over 4 minutes to go in the half.
Carter’s bucket as time expired brought the halftime score to 43-20, which is the largest lead at the break for the Frogs during conference-play.
TCU will next be in action at the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev.
