TCU Women Fall At Kansas
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – The TCU women’s basketball team cut a late nine-point deficit down to two before eventually falling in a 62-53 decision to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening.
Sophomore guard Zahna Medley led TCU with a game-high 20 points in 39 minutes, while Natalie Ventress and Chelsea Prince also scored in double figures with 10 points apiece.
Senior center Latricia Lovings set a new TCU record with a block for the 63rd-consecutive game and finished with a team-high nine rebounds to go with four points.
The Horned Frogs (14-10, 5-7), which led 28-24 at the break, struggled through a slow start to open the second half as Kansas kept its momentum from the end of the first period and built a 32-28 lead on an 18-2 run.
Medley answered and put TCU on the board for the first time in the final half with a 3-pointer at the 14:34 mark, but Kansas answered with a 3-point bucket of its own to keep the deficit at six points.
After cutting an eight-point deficit in half on a pair of
Prince free throws at the 7:03 mark, the Jayhawks jumped back out to its largest lead of the game at 54-45 on six free throws and a layup from Asia Boyd with 4:21 left to play.
Prince sparked the TCU rally attempt, getting a steal and converting a 3-point play in transition to bring the Frogs within six points with 3:41 remaining.
The Frogs would force another turnover on the next possession and Medley found Prince again for a layup in transition.
Ventress would bring TCU within two points with a drive and layup at the 2:35 mark, but Kansas’ Natalie Knight managed to get the roll on a jumper as the shot clock wound down with under two minutes remaining as the Frogs wouldn’t get any closer.
TCU also got off to a slow start to open the game, connecting on two of its first 10 shots to trail 13-8 early on.
Medley started a 10-0 TCU run with her first 3-pointer of the contest and added a 3-point play when she stole the ball and was fouled while taking on two defenders in transition.
The Springfield, Ill., native game TCU its largest lead of the night at 26-16 with her second long-range bucket at the 2:43 mark of the first half, but Kansas’ Knight connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to change the momentum.
TCU shot just 29 percent (20-of-68) from the field and 21 percent (3-of-14) from 3-point range while the Jayhawks shot 41 percent and connected on 7-of-13 shots from beyond the arc.
TCU scored 25 points on 19 Kansas turnovers but lost the battle on the glass by a 42-35 margin.
The Frogs will stay on the road to take on No. 13 West Virginia on Sunday at noon in Morgantown, W.Va.
