TCU women savor first-round taste of WNIT, ready for a second bite

TCU’s women shook off the disappointment of being left out of the NCAA Tournament and got back to work in winning its opening game of the Women’s NIT on Thursday.

The young Horned Frogs withstood Lamar’s pressure in the backcourt, but owned the Cardinals in the paint in an 80-68 victory at Schollmaier Arena.

TCU outscored its Southland Conference foe 40-8 in the paint. Jordan Moore was the beneficiary of the Frogs’ looks in the frontcourt, registering game highs with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

The Frogs (20-12) will be back home for a second-round game with Missouri State at noon on Saturday.

“We get to keep playing!” TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “I’m excited we extended this team’s season. Lamar is a heckuva team. And that’s not just being nice. They are a great team.

“I was nervous because of the style they play. We knew [inside] was an advantage we had inside. We knew we had a lot of work to do 94 feet to get it to that point.”

That style is pressure for 94 feet. It has been good to the Cardinals, who entered having forced an average of 27 turnovers a game this season.

The Frogs, playing in their first game in since a loss to Baylor in the Big 12 tournament semifinals 10 days ago, felt it. TCU’s 20 turnovers were a big reason why it couldn’t create separation in the first half, despite Lamar going without a field goal for almost five minutes in the second quarter.

In the second half, TCU took advantage of an almost 10-minute field-goal lull.

Trailing 48-47 at the 5:12 mark of the third, the Frogs found themselves up 17 before Lamar (22-8) managed to score from the field at 5:26 of the fourth.

Kianna Ray, who had 16 points, scored six during the run. Adeola Akomolafe added 12 for the Frogs.

Pebley was pleased by how her guards handled the pressure.

“Twenty turnovers is a lot more than we like, but considering what they’re capable of doing I’m happy with what we did,” Pebley said. “I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I’m really proud of how our team responded.

“Pretty efficient offense for us, finding our post play inside was big.”

While victory and advancement, of course, is the name of the game this time of year, Pebley was most pleased by how her team responded to disappointment.

The WNIT wasn’t where the Frogs wanted to be, but it is what it is. Life is full of letdowns. However, there is plenty of opportunity for a young team, half of which has never played in the postseason.

The WNIT appearance is TCU’s 15th postseason tournament in program history, all in the past 18 years. This is their sixth WNIT. The Frogs also represented their school in the WNIT in 2016.

After missing out last season, Pebley said she told her team to “enjoy spring break now because it’s the only one you’re going to get in your career here.”

“I was a little worried about what our team’s mind-set was if we didn’t get into the NCAA tournament,” Pebley said, adding that the practices prior to selection Sunday had been stale. “But as soon as we didn’t get in the tournament, I’m telling you, immediately, I felt like it was our team again.

“They knew they had a tournament to play in, an opponent they were going play against, and the intensity and the focus returned. Our three practices leading into this were some of our best in awhile. I love that they don’t see this as ‘well, let’s go see what happens.’ They’re in it to win it.”

This story was originally published March 15, 2018 at 10:25 PM with the headline "TCU women savor first-round taste of WNIT, ready for a second bite."