TCU Women Upset No. 23 Iowa State
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AMES, Iowa – Donielle Breaux connected on the game-winning 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds remaining as the TCU women’s basketball team toppled No. 23 Iowa State on Wednesday night by a score of 61-60 at Hilton Coliseum.
The Horned Frogs improved to 13-9 overall and 4-6 in Big 12 play, while the Cyclones dropped to 16-6 on the season and 5-6 in league play.
Junior forward Chelsea Prince led TCU with a career-high 17 points, going 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line, while also grabbing three steals in a career-best 38 minutes.
Sophomore guard Zahna Medley scored in double figures for the 17th time this season with 16 points, while senior center Latricia Lovings grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points and five blocks.
Trailing by five at the half, the Horned Frogs wasted little time in taking their lead back, as Medley grabbed a steal and dished to Breaux for a fastbreak layup and Prince followed with an offensive rebound and 3-point play to put TCU up 32-31 at the 17:36 mark.
TCU would build its largest lead of six points at the 14:50 mark when
Lovings grabbed an offensive board and converted the putback and Medley drove in for a layup.
The Cyclones charged back with an 8-2 run to tie the contest up at 44 points apiece and the two teams would go back-and-forth over the next 10 minutes with neither team leading by more than three points.
Trailing 55-52 with 2:14 remaining, Medley drove the baseline for a layup and would sink a pair of free throws on the next possession to put TCU up 56-55 with 1:42 left to play.
Iowa State answered with its 11th 3-pointer of the night to go ahead 58-56 with just over a minute to play, but Breaux would hit the first of two huge shots with a floater to knot things back up with 50 seconds remaining.
The Frogs would force a miss on the next possession but were whistled on the rebound attempt, and Seanna Johnson converted both shots from the charity stripe to give the Cyclones a two-point lead with 17.7 seconds on the clock.
Following a timeout, Prince found Breaux wide open at the top of the key, and she calmly sank the game winner with 5.3 seconds remaining.
The Cyclones took the inbounds and raced down the court into the paint, where the Frogs forced a jump ball to seal the win.
Junior forward Natalie Ventress chipped in nine points while Breaux also finished with nine points and two steals after earning her first start since Nov. 27.
TCU shot 42 percent (23-of-55) from the field and was 13-of-15 from the free-throw line, while Iowa State shot 39 percent (22-of-56) from the field and connected on 11 of 31 shots from beyond the arc.
After dropping the rebounding battle by a 56-25 margin in the first meeting this season, the Frogs outrebounded the Cyclones, 34-32, and outscored Iowa State by a 38-18 margin in the paint.
The Horned Frogs return home to play host to Texas Tech at noon on Saturday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in a contest televised nationally by FOX Sports Net.
