TCU women use 3-pointers to beat West Virginia
The TCU women’s basketball team insisted on driving the ball into the paint through the first half of Tuesday’s Big 12 contest against West Virginia.
Almost to a fault, it seemed.
TCU, a good 3-point shooting team at 35 percent in conference play, hoisted just four attempts from behind the arc in the first half.
The Horned Frogs held a 39-27 lead at the half, but turned the ball over eight times resulting in nine points for West Virginia.
Those drives, however, opened up space for the Frogs’ 3-point shooters in the second half, allowing TCU to pull away and claim an important 73-63 victory over the Mountaineers.
“We knew that we needed to penetrate the paint and penetrate it strong and be under control and balanced, because they change a lot of shots,” TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “We said if you didn’t like your layup in there, be still, move off the ball and we found some good kicks.”
With a nine-point lead midway through the second half, TCU senior forward Chelsea Prince opened up TCU’s range with a deep jumper.
What followed was three straight 3-pointers by Prince, junior guard Zahna Medley and senior guard Natalie Ventress to push TCU’s lead to a then-game-high 19 points and ultimately seal the victory.
TCU (16-11, 8-8 Big 12) finished 8 for 15 from 3-point range, six of which came in the second half.
Ventress was perfect from behind the arc, drilling 4 of 4 en route to 15 points. Medley finished as the Frogs’ scoring leader with 19 points, shooting 3 for 5 from 3-point range.
Because Saturday’s loss to Baylor took such a physical toll on the Frogs, Pebley mixed up the rotation through the first half, allowing 10 players to see the court in the first half, nine of whom scored points.
“We practiced and we got better and we needed to see our bench contribute,” Pebley said.
Sophomore post Klara Bradshaw reaped the benefits of the different lineups, seeing 21 minutes of playing time that resulted in eight points, three rebounds and two blocks.
West Virginia’s leading scorer, Bria Holmes, had a field day in the teams’ first meeting Feb. 4, netting one of her four 30-point games this season.
Holmes finished with 24 points for the Mountaineers (16-12, 6-10) on Tuesday, and Pebley was glad that was all the shooting star managed.
“We just feel really fortunate that out of 31 shots, only 10 of them went in,” Pebley said.
The win keeps TCU in at least a tie for fourth place in the Big 12, with the conference tournament looming two games away.
“We needed that one,” Pebley said. “That’s a big one for our team. These seniors have never beaten West Virginia, so we really wanted to try and get that win for them. Everybody right now is playing for seeding in the conference tournament. They’re trying to get the selection committee talking about you.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "TCU women use 3-pointers to beat West Virginia."