Consistency is tough for a young basketball team.
Just ask Jeff Mittie, the TCU women's basketball coach, who watched his Horned Frogs bob up and down to a 10-10 record with short winning streaks followed by equal skids.With a 63-56 win Saturday at home against New Mexico (6-14, 0-6 Mountain West Conference), however, those Frogs proved they have found stability.TCU (11-10, 4-2) tied its longest winning streak this season with three straight."We've been fairly resilient," Mittie said. "We're getting production from more people."Mittie had a nine-player rotation Saturday; eight scored, led by 6-foot-3 freshman Ashley Colbert with 11 and Antoinette Thompson with 10. Freshman Natalie Ventress, TCU's leading scorer this season, and Chelsea Prince each had nine points. Briesha Wynn also put in nine."Ventress is our leading scorer, but really those next two spots have been different every night," Mittie said. "Certainly in this three-game stretch, we've had more people step up."The Frogs still need work on icing wins. TCU had a 12-point lead with seven minutes left but let the Lobos get within two. But Prince hit a baseline jumper at the clock-shot buzzer to put TCU up 55-51 with 1:53 to go."She made the huge shot of the game," Mittie said. "We had gotten tentative at the 8-minute mark. When you get a double-digit lead, the next step is to put a team away."Prince followed her big shot with a defensive stop, poking the ball away and diving to secure a jump ball and possession change. Thompson then completed an and-one layup to push TCU's lead to 58-51."We are starting to move the ball quicker with better cuts on offense," Thompson said of TCU's improved offense. "We are more decisive."Colbert scored nine of her 11 in the second half."They got a little more physical with me, didn't want me to catch the ball at all," Colbert said. "I love that. That's my favorite time to play. It's no fun when they are playing off of you."The Frogs outscored New Mexico 38-18 in the paint."We thought we had an advantage," Mittie said. "We thought [Colbert's] size would give them trouble, and we got the ball to her where she needed it. She did a good job finishing tough shots."Brent Shirley, 817-390-7760Twitter: @bshirley08
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