TCU Women Advance In Big 12 Tournament
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The TCU women’s basketball team broke open a one-point contest with an 18-2 run en route to a 75-59 victory over Texas Tech in the opening round of the 2014 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Horned Frogs claimed its third-straight win over a Big 12 opponent, the longest such streak this season, to improve to 18-13 overall and earn their first-ever trip to the Championship quarterfinals.
Four Frogs scored in double figures for the first time against a league opponent, led by 18 points from both sophomore guard Zahna Medley and junior guard Natalie Ventress. Medley was 6-of-16 from the field and handed out four assists, while Ventress was 6-of-10 from the field and teamed up with Medley to go a combined 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Senior center Latricia Lovings was nearly perfect, going 7-of-8 from the field for a season-high 14 points while also snagging four steals.
Junior forward Chelsea Prince scored in double figures for the eighth time in the last 10 games with 14 points off a 5-of-11 effort from the field and 3-of-4 mark from the free-throw line.
TCU went into halftime trailing the Tech by a score of 34-33, as the
Red Raiders shot 54 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
With the Frogs clinging to a one-point advantage at the 11:36 mark of the second half, freshman center Klara Bradshaw grabbed an offensive rebound over a defender and converted the putback.
Medley then found Lovings as she rolled off a screen for the easy layup and Prince would follow with an offensive board and putback to put TCU up seven with 10:10 left to play.
Medley gave TCU its first double-digit advantage of the game with her second 3-pointer of the night and the Frogs would add three free-throws to push out to a 63-48 lead off a 14-0 run with 7:22 remaining,
Tech finally got back on the scoreboard on a layup from Amber Battle to snap its nearly seven-minute scoring drought, but Medley would answer with a layup and Ventress followed with a pair of free-throws to extend TCU’s 18-2 run for a 67-50 advantage.
TCU shot a blazing 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field in the second half while handing out 17 assists against only eight turnovers.
The Frogs will meet No. 2 seed and seventh-ranked West Virginia in the quarterfinal round at 6 p.m., on Saturday on FOX Sports Net.
