TCU dominates from tip-off, earns another statement victory over No. 25 West Virginia

This time, the TCU women’s basketball team didn’t let an opportunity to add another impressive win to its NCAA tournament resume slip away.

The Horned Frogs led the entire game Sunday night after a dominant first quarter put them in control in a 73-60 victory over No. 25 West Virginia.

The win pushed TCU (14-4, 5-2) back into a second-place tie with Texas in the Big 12 and gave the Horned Frogs their best start ever in Big 12 play.

For a team that just missed the NCAA tournament a year ago, TCU needed to win at home against a ranked West Virginia team after failing to close Wednesday in a loss to No. 2 Baylor despite leading after three quarters.

From the very start of the season, TCU has been motivated not to settle for a third consecutive WNIT appearance.

“The Big 12 has so many teams right now in the top 50 RPI,” TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “There are a lot of opportunities to get top 50 wins. You can’t dwindle those opportunities away. You have to take them as they come and embrace the moment and the opportunity. Right now, this team has a really good conviction because of what they went through last year.”

West Virginia (13-5, 3-4), which started the season 13-1, has now lost four consecutive games. The Mountaineers certainly looked like a struggling team early against TCU.

The Horned Frogs opened the game on a 10-2 spurt that forced West Virginia to burn an early timeout. TCU outscored West Virginia 28-9 in the first quarter and never looked back.

“It was huge,” TCU senior guard Kianna Ray said of the fast start. “We had a lot [of motivation] coming off of our last Baylor loss. We were unsatisfied, and this is definitely a way we can prove that and make a statement and show we’re hungry for more and we’re ready to just keep it rolling.”

Ray led four TCU starters in double figures with 19 points. Ray and senior guard Jaycee Bradley (14 points) each made four 3-pointers. West Virginia senior guard Tynice Martin, a likely WNBA draft pick, led the Mountaineers with 24 points and made six 3s.

TCU led by double digits most of the second half. The Mountaineers could get no closer than nine points after halftime as TCU kept sinking free throws and controlling the tempo.

TCU dominated despite its leading scorer Lauren Heard not having her best night, finishing with 10 points on 3-for-13 shooting and seven turnovers.

“Lauren is just getting a lot of attention defensively,” Pebley said. “The floor got spaced well around her and that’s why we got some 3s. There are a lot of ways she helps our team.”

This was TCU’s second win over the nation’s No. 25 team this year. The Horned Frogs won at then-No. 25 Texas to open Big 12 play. TCU just missed another win over a ranked opponent in nonconference play with a 70-68 road loss in mid-December at then-No. 11 Texas A&M

“It’s just really fun when we’re out there playing team basketball,” Bradley said. “Our chemistry is getting better and better every game. As we continue to grow, we’ll become harder to guard.”