TCU Women Lose In Oklahoma
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NORMAN, Okla. – Natalie Ventress and Antoinette Thompson both scored in double-figures Wednesday, but it wasn’t enough as Oklahoma dropped TCU at the Lloyd Noble Center, 82-54.
Ventress, a freshman from Fort Worth, scored 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting, which included a new career-high of four triples from deep. In all, Ventress scored nine of her 14 in the second half, including going 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Fellow freshman Chelsea Prince had another all-around game for the Horned Frogs, scoring eight points, while also grabbing a team-high seven boards.
With the loss, TCU, who forced OU into a game-high 26 turnovers, moved to 6-6 on the year and saw its two-game winning streak come to an end. Oklahoma improved to 8-3 overall and won its fifth-straight contest.
For a majority of the night, OU showed why they were picked to finish in the upper-half of the Big 12 as the Sooners simply shot lights out from all over the court, shooting a blistering 47.5 percent, including 40 percent from three-point land. Aaryn Ellenberg scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-7 from deep. Sharane Campbell was also in double-figures with 17 points, while Morgan Hook and Whitney Hand both chipped in with 12 points apiece, respectively.
After a 4-0 run to start the game by OU, Ventress drove the lane and found a wide-open Prince to bring the Frogs within two early, but the Sooners, who shot over 70 percent during the first six minutes of the opening frame, continued to shoot the ball extremely well, jumping out to a 15-2 lead. Ventress halted the run, tickling the twine from deep at the 15:08 mark and the Frogs pressured Oklahoma into a turnover the next trip down the court.
Whitney Williams pulled the Frogs within 10 at 17-7 with a little over 11 minutes to
go in the first half, scoring on a nice running floater over the Sooners’ Nicole Griffin. All-out hustle got the Purple and White their next basket as Delisa Gross picked up a loose ball after a scramble on the floor and drained a short jumper from inside the lane to make the score 17-9.
With OU up 21-9, freshman Ashley Colbert calmly drained a jumper and the Frogs once again forced the Sooners into their ninth turnover of the half at the 7:55 mark of the opening frame. Briesha Wynn then stole the rock a few moments later and went coast-to-coast to pull within seven at 21-14.
A 7-0 run helped TCU quiet the estimated crowd of 5,739 and make the score 21-16 at the 5 minute mark of the half. During that stretch, the Frogs forced several turnovers, including holding OU scoreless for over 3 minutes of action, but the Sooners would close the half on a 20-4 run to bring the halftime deficit to 41-20 at the break.
The Frogs went right to work in the second half of play, scoring four points to cut into the OU lead, which included a nice dish by Antoinette Thompson to Prince who knifed through the Sooner defense early in the second frame of play. Ventress would drill a deep trey a few moments later to try and rally the Horned Frogs at the 15-minute mark. The freshman would dial up another at the 12:46 mark and continue to pull closer, but Oklahoma could not be stopped.
TCU would continue to battle with 9 minutes to play when Prince found Thompson in the corner, who promptly drilled a three. Ventress would connect on another triple a few moments later and the Frogs made a small dent into the Sooner lead on a couple of free throws. Prince scored four-straight, including a steal and a bucket down the stretch, but the Horned Frogs weren’t able to slow down Oklahoma, falling 82-54.
TCU will take on Texas Southern on Saturday, Dec. 31 at the DMC. The game will tip at 2:00 p.m., with the men’s game against Tulsa directly following the conclusion of the women’s.
