Kiana Ray’s career-high 26 points leads TCU in defeating Kansas, 73-59

This time around, TCU senior guard Kiana Ray was anything but frustrated.

After a tough night shooting the basketball in a mid-week loss to Texas Tech, Ray responded Sunday in a big way to lead the Horned Frogs to a 73-59 victory over Kansas at Schollmaier Arena.

Ray scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 6-of-8 from three-point range. The six three tied her career high.

TCU coach Raegan Pebley said she felt like this game was a must-win for the Horned Frogs early in the Big 12 schedule, going against a Kansas team projected to finish at the bottom of the league.

“I didn’t put that pressure on the team, but I felt like that coming in,” Pebley said. “A game that I felt like emotionally was a must-get, it was a tough challenge. I’m really proud of how our team responded.”

Kansas (11-3, 0-3 in the Big 12) went undefeated in non-conference play and had six players averaging in double figures in scoring.

The win moves TCU (11-3, 2-1) into a third-place tie with Oklahoma in the Big 12 behind undefeated Baylor and West Virginia.

Sunday’s game was the complete opposite for Ray than what she experienced Wednesday in an 80-76 home loss to Texas Tech.

Ray missed her first seven shots against Tech – four of which were threes – and didn’t make her first basket until 7:58 was left in the third quarter. Ray finished 4-of-16 shooting, including 1-of-8 from three-point range, against Tech.

After the Tech game, Pebley said of Ray, “She’s going to need to perform and hit shots better than she did, and I know nobody knows that better than her. But I know she will.”

And Pebley was dead-on. On Sunday, Ray made her first six shots and her first miss didn’t come until 4:18 was left in the third quarter. Ray was a perfect 5-for-5 at halftime – including four made threes – to lead TCU with 14 first-half points.

“My coaches really did a good job of pounding confidence in me and not taking that away, so it was definitely a lot I needed to hear,” Ray said about her last few days. “I know I have the confidence in myself and the support from my teammates and staff, so just continuing to find my rhythm. Seeing the ball go in early is definitely a boost of confidence.”

Ray is now 32 points shy of becoming the 20th women’s basketball player in TCU history to reach 1,000 points in her career.

Ray was a big contributor in other ways. She led TCU with eight rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots.

“I just saw a lot of maturity,” Pebley said of Ray’s bounce-back game. “I think she took really good shots, efficient shots. She had good rhythm.”

Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said his team didn’t execute his game plan against Ray.

“We were letting her have shots that she’s comfortable with, and we didn’t disrupt her at all,” Schneider said. “She was terrific.”

This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 6:00 AM.