TCU Women Fall To Kansas State

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – TCU took a 58-54 lead late in the game Saturday night, but fell in heartbreaking fashion as Kansas State scored with five second left to escape with a 59-58 victory at Bramlage Coliseum.

With 58 seconds left to go in the contest, freshman Zahna Medley appeared to have given the Horned Frogs their first win in Big 12 play, knocking down her third three of the game from the corner to give TCU a 58-54 lead, but K-State’s Brittany Chambers bounced right back, nailing a triple of her own to make the scoreboard read 58-57 in favor of TCU. During the stretch, the Frogs went on a 14-5 run.

Following a turnover by the Purple and White, Kansas State’s Chantay Caron scored two of her nine points down low to ultimately seal the Wildcat victory with five seconds left in the contest. Medley and the Frogs had one final chance to record the program’s first conference win in Big 12 play, but came up short as the freshman’s three as time expired fell short.

In a game that featured 14 lead changes and eight ties, TCU was carried on the night by junior Latricia Lovings who recorded her second double-double of the season with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Lovings’ 16 points is a new career-high for the Fort Worth native, while she fell one board short of tying her previous career-high in rebounds.

During the second half of play, Medley and fellow freshman Kamy Cole simply took over the contest, leading the Frogs back from an eight-point hole midway through the second frame of play. In all, the duo had 11 of the Frogs’ final 17 points in the contest. On the night, Cole finished

with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, while Medley chipped in with 12 points.

K-State was led by Haley Texada who posted a game-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. Brianna Craig and Chambers added 14 and 10 points, respectively.

As a team, TCU out-rebounded Kansas State, 35-30, while the Frogs also shot 88.2 percent from the charity stripe. The Purple and White also controlled points in the paint, holding a 26-22 advantage. TCU, who also scored a 21-12 mark in points off turnovers Saturday, stole the rock 10 times.

With the loss, the Horned Frogs moved to 7-6 overall and 0-2 in Big 12 play, while Kansas State, who is receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN poll, improved to 10-4 overall and 1-1 in league play.

K-State opened the half on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 31-31, but the Frogs forced a turnover on one end and then watched as Cole tickled the twine on the other to regain a 34-31 lead. The Wildcats would answer to pull within one, but Medley would have nothing of it, driving the lane to record a contested layup six minutes into the half.

TCU took a 38-33 lead off a 7-2 run, while holding Kansas State scoreless for almost three minutes of play, but the Wildcats responded by going on a 7-0 run to pull back in front at 40-38 with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the second period.

With time running out on the shot clock, Medley calmly ended the Wildcat run, draining a three to give TCU a 41-40 lead, but it was short lived as K-State regained the slight advantage at 49-42 with 6:44 to go in the contest.

Lovings pulled the Frogs within five with 5:55 left to go and then Cole made it a 52-47 game, drilling a trey at the 5:39 mark. A couple of free throws by Natalie Ventress brought TCU within 54-51 down the stretch off a 7-2 run.

The Purple and White then forced a steal and Cole went coast-to-coast for a scoop layup to pull the Frogs within one at 54-53. The freshman then hit two-straight at the charity stripe to give TCU a 55-54 lead.

The Frogs went on to take a 58-54 lead, but couldn’t hold on Saturday night as Caron sealed the game with five seconds left to even the all-time series at 1-1.

Lovings got the Frogs going right out of the gates, scoring off a put-back early in the contest. The junior, who opened the game grabbing nine of TCU’s 12 boards, continued to go to work a few moments later, connecting on a tough three-point play to give the Frogs an early 5-3 lead. Following a triple by Chambers, Donielle Breaux came back down the court and drove the lane and connected with an and-one of her own at the 17-minute mark of the opening frame.

With the score knotted at 9-9, K-State jumped out to a 12-9 lead, but Cole went coast-to-coast following a steal to bring the scoreboard to 12-11 halfway through the opening period. The two teams would battle back and fourth the next couple of trips down the court before Hamilton ripped the nets to give TCU a 15-14 lead.

Lovings would regain the Frog lead a few posessions later, scoring her second three-point play of the night with a little over 8 minutes remaining in the first half. The Frogs were in the midst of a 5-0 run when the Wildcats connected on their fifth three of the opening half to tie the game at 20-20.

Medley gave TCU a 27-26 lead down the stretch, drilling her first trey ball of the game with a little over 2 minutes remaining in the half. On the very next possession, the Frogs connected on a beautiful alley-oop as Medley found Veja Hamilton down low to give TCU a 29-26 advantage. The Frogs ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 31-26 lead into the break.

TCU will return home to face Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 9. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. CT from the DMC.