TCU women squander big lead, bow out at Southern Miss
With 3:52 left on the clock and the TCU women leading Southern Mississippi 53-43, Lady Eagles coach Joye Lee-McNelis thought about pulling her seniors so they could get a final standing ovation at Reed Green Coliseum.
One of her assistants told her to give them one last shot at a rally coming out of the timeout.
What followed was an 18-8 Southern Miss run, sending the game into overtime. The Lady Eagles completed the comeback in OT, ending TCU’s season 77-73 in the second round of the WNIT on Sunday.
Junior guard Jerontay Clemons scored 14 of her 17 points in that final 3:52, while pulling in four of her 13 rebounds, three on the offensive boards. She also had an assist and a steal.
“I think it’s truly the best three minutes of her career that she’s ever played here,” Lee-McNelis said.
“I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know if I’ve seen where one individual puts their team on their back and just finds a way to win.”
Southern Miss (24-10) trailed by 14, 53-39, with 5:49 left before mounting a comeback. The Lady Eagles went on a 7-0 run in the final 1:23 to tie the game 61-61 in regulation.
Clemons scored most of her points by driving to the block, drawing contact and getting a shot up — several of which fell in — and drawing a whistle.
“She just went and initiated contact and went full bore, and then it’s judgment calls for the officials,” TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “Their judgment was that the contact was created by us. When you’re on the road, you don’t have that luxury for error.”
The spark carried over into the extra frame, but this time it was senior guard Brook Rhodes who carried the offense, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Lady Eagles (24-10) a six-point lead. It was Southern Miss’ only 3-point makes of the game in 11 attempts, but they put the nail in TCU’s season as the Frogs never regained the lead.
With two teams whose primary focus is defense and forcing turnovers, the game from start to finish was ugly.
Pebley said taking care of the ball was one of the primary keys to overcoming TCU’s road record of only two wins on the season.
TCU (18-14) turned the ball over 20 times, resulting in 22 Southern Miss points. TCU was only able to force 14 Lady Eagles turnovers.
When the Frogs were able to pick off a Southern Miss pass or pull down an offensive rebound, they struggled to make it count on the scoreboard.
TCU put up 33 shots from 3-point range, but only converted 10, five of which came in the second half when junior guard Zahna Medley found her shooting touch.
Medley finished with a game-high 26 points, shooting 6 of 12 on 3-pointers. Besides senior Donielle Breaux, with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, she didn’t get much help from teammates, who had shouldered scoring weight evenly throughout the season.
Senior guard Natalie Ventress, a 38 percent shooter from 3-point range entering the game, went 0 for 7 Sunday, ending the career of one of the school’s top 3-point shooters of all time 0 for 19 in the Frogs’ final four games. She finished with six points.
TCU’s most efficient shooter, junior guard Veja Hamilton, who had shot 50 percent from the field for the season, was only 2 of 11 and had four points.
Senior Chelsea Prince had hit 35 percent from 3-point range, but was 1 of 5 Sunday. She had 13 points, hitting 8 of 10 free throws.
“Two seniors that have been shooting the 3 pretty well for us this year,” Pebley said. “I think, statistically, when you look at what those two have done for us, it’s out of character.”
Those seniors and their contributions were a topic of conversation after the season-ending loss.
“They embraced the culture we asked of them and how that leadership will be felt for a long time, even four or five years from now. I know that they will have a lot to do with this program’s success,” Pebley said. “They have a lot to be proud of.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2015 at 9:21 PM with the headline "TCU women squander big lead, bow out at Southern Miss."