TCU women notch first postseason win since 2008
Prior to Thursday’s contest against Stephen F. Austin in the first round of the WNIT, not one TCU women’s basketball player had been part of a team to win a postseason game.
The last time the Horned Frogs had advanced in a postseason tournament was 2008, when they downed Boise State in their first game of the WNIT.
With Thursday’s 85-80 win over SFA at the University Recreation Center, TCU’s roster can now claim that achievement. But it didn’t come easily.
The Ladyjacks overcame a 16-point deficit late in the first half, cutting TCU’s lead to three points with 14 seconds to go in the game.
A steal and two made free throws by junior guard Zahna Medley with less than 10 seconds to go ultimately sealed the win.
TCU advances to the second round of the WNIT. The Frogs will now have to travel away from the URC to play Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Medley, TCU’s leading scorer, didn’t lead the charge offensively for the Frogs. Sophomore forward Jada Butts and senior forward Chelsea Prince had career-high performances, scoring 21 and 20 points, respectively. Junior guard Veja Hamilton added 21 points.
“I don’t know what happened tonight,” Prince said. “I was just playing. I’m not going to say it had any fire under me. Coach told me to come out and play offense like I play defense.”
Prince added four steals to her final line, giving her the school’s single-season record with 99.
After 12 days of practice since its last game, TCU opened Thursday’s contest shooting 58 percent from the field in the first half and created 18 points off 12 turnovers.
Things stalled in the second half, however, when SFA put together several small runs and TCU fell victim to a 3-minute, 15-second scoring drought.
Ladyjacks senior center Porsha Roberts took advantage, scoring 21 of her 35 points in the second half and causing TCU’s defense all kinds of grief in the paint.
The Southland Conference MVP and defensive player of the year also pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out two assists.
Coach Brandon Schneider said Roberts was one of the top-five players to compete at SFA and believes she’ll have a shot at the next level.
“She’s one of the better post players we’ve seen this year, and I think we’ve seen some of the best in the country in our conference,” TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “She’s a coach’s dream to have on your team, and a coach’s nightmare to have to play against.”
A win was nice, but Pebley said the program is capable of much more.
“Get rid of the status quo,” Pebley said. “What has been isn’t going to continue to be.
“We need to shake off a non-Big 12 mentality. We’re in the Big 12. When you’re in the Big 12, you compete for championships at a very high level and you continue on into postseason play to advance.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2015 at 11:21 PM with the headline "TCU women notch first postseason win since 2008."