TCU Women Advance At NIT

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FORT WORTH, Texas – The TCU women’s basketball team registered an 85-80 victory over Stephen F. Austin in the opening round of the Women’s NIT on Thursday evening to earn its first postseason victory since 2008.

The Horned Frogs (18-13) advance to the second round and will take on Southern Miss at 2 p.m., on Sunday in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Veja Hamilton (21), Jada Butts (21) and Chelsea Prince (20) all hit the 20-point threshold to lead a high-powered offensive attack that saw TCU rattle off the third-most points of the season and shoot 47 percent from the field.

The first half was a game of runs on each side, as TCU jumped out to a 25-11 advantage at the 9:35 mark when senior guard Natalie Ventress converted a layup to cap a 16-1 run.

Stephen F. Austin (23-8) answered with an 11-2 run to trim the lead back to down to nine three minutes later before the Horned Frogs pushed back out to a 14-point advantage at the 5:01 mark.

The Lady Jacks trimmed the deficit back to seven before Prince knocked down two of her career-best five 3-pointers for a 46-31 halftime advantage.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the second half, with different

Frogs stepping up to make huge shots to stall SFA runs.

With TCU’s lead down to five with under four minutes remaining, Butts knocked down a pair of free-throws, and following a Prince steal, junior guard Zahna Medley found Butts in transition to jump back out to a nine-point lead.

Medley followed with a 3-pointer at the 3:28 mark for a 10-point TCU lead, but the Lady Jacks were able to whittle the deficit back to four with under two minutes before the Frogs closed it out from the free-throw line.

Hamilton reached double figures for the 18th time this season and hit the 20-point mark for the fourth time with a 10-of-15 effort from the field while leading the squad with six rebounds.

Butts posted a career-best 21 points, going 6-of-8 from the field, 2-of-3 from distance and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Prince also registered a career high with 20 points, going 7-of-13 from the field, including a career-best five 3-pointers on eight attempts.

Medley rounded out the scorers in double figures with 12 points to go with a game-high seven assists.

TCU scored 28 points off of 23 SFA turnovers while handing out 21 assists.

SFA senior center Porsha Roberts paced the Lady Jacks with 35 points and 11 rebounds.