TCU Women Fall To Kansas
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – In a game that featured six ties and 11 lead changes, TCU led by three with seven minutes to go Tuesday night, but Kansas rallied down the stretch to record a 74-67 victory over the Horned Frogs at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Frogs, who ended the regular-season 9-20 overall and 2-16 in league play, led by as many as eight in the contest and appeared to be well on their way to recording their second-straight conference victory, but in the end just missed on a couple of key possessions in the closing minutes. The two teams will meet once again in the opening round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship in Dallas Friday night.
In a game that could have gone either way, TCU, who shot 41.5 percent from the field, including 47.6 from behind the arc, was led on the night by freshman Kamy Cole’s 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The Brock native, who opened the game red hot from deep, made all five of her field goals from behind the arc.
Sophomore Natalie Ventress followed with 14 points, while freshman Veja Hamilton
posted her first career double-double with 12 points and a new career-high 11 boards. Latricia Lovings rounded out the Horned Frogs’ double-digit scorers with 12 points. She also grabbed six boards, while adding five blocks and three steals. Finally, freshman Zahna Medley dished out 12 assists, while stealing the rock four times.
Carolyn Davis led Kansas with a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds. Markisha Hawkins tallied 15 points, while Monica Engelman chipped in with 14 points on 4-of-11 from the field.
TCU came out of the break on the attack down low as Lovings scored the opening four points for the Frogs. With Kansas clinging to a 42-40 lead, senior Delisa Gross responded from the corner, burying a triple, which gave the Frogs a 43-42 lead early on in the second half.
With score knotted at 45-45 a few moments later, Cole rattled home her fifth three of the game. On the very next possession, Medley looped a pass over to Lovings who powered home a runner inside the paint to push the Frog advantage to 50-45 with 14:29 showing on the scoreboard.
Kansas responded though by going on a mini 7-0 run to take a 52-50 lead before Medley stepped back and connected from deep to regain the Frog advantage. Kansas answered tie the game back at 54-54, but Ventress would connect on a tough three-point play at the 7:25 mark to give TCU a 57-54 lead.
The Jayhawks would not back down though as they responded with a couple of triples before all-out hustle by Hamilton made the scoreboard read 60-59 in slight favor of KU with 5:14 showing in the game.
The freshman made it a 68-62 game with 40.3 seconds left and then watched as Ventress tickled the twine on the next possession to pull the Frogs within three at 68-65 with 35.7 seconds left in the contest. TCU could not get any closer down the stretch.
The Frogs got rolling right out of the gates from three-point land as Ventress tickled the twine from the corner on the opening possession. Cole continued the Frog offensive production a few moments later, drilling a deep three from the right side of the court, which gave TCU a 6-2 lead.
With the scoreboard reading 6-5 in slight favor of the Frogs, Ventress went back to work, dropping her second trey ball of the game. A few plays later, Gross found the bottom of the net down low, which was immediately followed by another triple from Cole at the 14:55 mark of the opening frame of play.
In all, the Frogs opened the game on fire, going 5-of-7 from three to take a 17-10 lead seven minutes into the contest. Cole, who scored 12 first half points, pushed the Frog lead to 20-12 off another triple, but Kansas’ Carolyn Davis answered on the other end to pull the Jayhawks within 20-17 with 11:56 showing on the scoreboard.
Back-to-back buckets by Hamilton moved the Frog advantage to 24-19 midway through the first half, but Kansas continued to fight until sophomore Chelsea Prince rattled home a jumper off the glass with a little over eight minutes remaining in the period to give TCU a 28-22 lead.
The two teams went back and fourth the next couple of trips until Kansas went on an 11-2 run to take a 33-30 lead. Lovings promptly ended the run to pull the Frogs back within one before Medley drove to the hole, faked to the left and rattled home a running jumper to give TCU a 34-33 lead down the stretch.
The Jayhawks were able to regain the momentum slightly to take a 37-36 lead into the break.
TCU will take on Kansas in the opening round of the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship in Dallas Friday night. Start time is set for 8:30 p.m. CT from the American Airlines Center.
