Swarming defense, hot shooting fuel 17-0 start as TCU women crush Texas State
The TCU women’s basketball team took control from the opening tip Sunday and never allowed Texas State to get back into the game in a 79-52 victory.
The Horned Frogs used swarming defense and hot shooting to fuel a 17-0 run to start the game and never looked back in improving to 9-1.
TCU forced five turnovers in the opening five minutes to build its early lead. Texas State didn’t make its first basket until the 4:35 mark of the first quarter.
“I knew coming into this game how we started was going to be really important,” TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “And that start was pretty special on both ends of the floor and really helped us build some momentum.”
TCU’s starters cheered on their teammates from the bench most of the fourth quarter with the game out of reach for Texas State (6-4).
TCU extended its home nonconference winning streak to 24 games — dating to December 2017 — and heads into the Christmas break at No. 17 in the latest RPI rankings. That’s the highest RPI of any Big 12 team, 12 spots ahead of No. 7 Baylor.
TCU’s RPI ranking is something to follow throughout the rest of the season because it’s often considered a factor in selecting and seeding the NCAA tournament teams.
For a team that narrowly missed the NCAA tournament a year ago, the Horned Frogs need to maintain a high RPI to boost their postseason resume.
Pebley said TCU’s nonconference schedule “absolutely” hurt the Horned Frogs a year ago. This time around, Pebley has made sure to been up the nonconference schedule to challenge her experienced team.
“I like where our RPI is at right now,” Pebley said. “We scheduled tough, and that’s why our RPI is sitting where it’s at. But we’re not going to be complacent or satisfied.”
That was evident Sunday against Texas State. The Horned Frogs were locked in from the first whistle and never trailed. Three players scored in double figures, led by junior guard Lauren Heard’s 14 points.
TCU received some valuable bench minutes from center Becky Obinma and forward Yummy Morris. Morris, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, was particularly active, finishing with a season-high 10 points.
“We like to see that growth from our posts. It just adds to the team,” said Heard, the team’s leading scorer. “It makes us harder to guard when we get contributions from everyone.”
TCU will get another week between games before hitting the road against a talented Middle Tennessee team Dec. 29. Then the Horned Frogs will open Big 12 play Jan. 3 at Texas, which just won at home Sunday against No. 1 Stanford, 69-64.
TCU’s lone loss this year came at No. 11 Texas A&M by two points.
“We still see where there are holes,” Pebley said. “It’s the challenge of the coach all the time, to keep your team hungry and growing and improving all the way through February. What’s nice is with this leadership we have they know what’s coming. They know we have to keep growing and getting better, and I’m confident with our leadership that we will.”