TCU falls to North Carolina; Fort Worth-area sisters match up in Maggie Dixon Classic
The TCU women’s basketball team struggled to shoot the ball during a 79-46 loss to North Carolina to close out a doubleheader in the Maggie Dixon Classic on Sunday at Schollmaier Arena.
The tournament, now in its 15th year, was started in honor of the former Army women’s coach and the late sister of TCU men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon.
“We’re honoring [Maggie’s] legacy in the right way by bringing in great competition and great character programs. I’m really, really excited about the direction this is all headed,” TCU women’s coach Raegan Pebley said earlier in the week.
Junior Tara Manumaleuga led TCU with nine points in 22 minutes. Sophomore Aja Holmes added eight points to lead the bench, which outscored UNC’s bench 28-16.
Both teams struggled early with only five points through the first three minutes. Tavy Diggs made a TCU jumper at the 6:40 mark, but it was answered by a three from UNC guard Deja Kelly, who won a state championship at Duncanville.
UNC (4-0) led 17-8 after the first quarter. TCU (1-2) scored the first five points of the second quarter on a Paige Bradley three and jumper by Denton Guyer’s Lauren Heard to pull the Horned Frogs within 17-13.
TCU outscored UNC 14-12 in the second quarter, but still trailed 29-22 at intermission.
Kelly converted a four-point play to up the Tar Heels’ lead to 35-22 with 9:23 left in the third quarter. Alyssa Ustby and Kelly knocked down a pair of jumpers to help extend the UNC lead to 39-24.
TCU got down 50-30 with 4:44 left in the third, but the Horned Frogs responded with a 10-0 run capped off with a Yummy Morris layup and two free throws by Holmes.
After the Horned Frogs pulled within 50-40, the Tar Heels went on a 22-2 run that gave them a 72-42 lead with 2:53 left in the fourth quarter. TCU was held to six points in the final frame on baskets from Manumaleuga, Morris and Okako Adika.
Aahliyah Jackson had a team-high five rebounds for TCU. The Horned Frogs shot 32.7% from the field and were 4 of 24 from the three-point line.
TCU travels to Moraga, Calif., for the Saint Mary’s Thanksgiving Classic where the Frogs play Saint Mary’s on Friday and California Baptist on Saturday.
Duke 74, Alabama 71
Jade Williams’ jumper with six seconds remaining lifted Duke over the Crimson Tide during the first game of the Maggie Dixon Classic at TCU on Sunday.
While the win kept the Blue Devils undefeated (4-0), the game resulted in a special day for one family.
Lexi Gordon, a graduate transfer for Duke, lined up against her younger sister, Myra, a sophomore for Alabama (2-2). Playing at TCU was also a special moment as parents Myron and Kim both played basketball for the Horned Frogs.
The two Gordons were among the best players in the Fort Worth-area, graduating from LD Bell.
Myra has the most points in a single game and single season in program history and second in career points. Lexi is the all-time leading scorer at Bell and second for points in a single game.
Myra was Star-Telegram all-area player of the year in 2019. Lexi made the all-area team all four years.
Lexi Gordon, a starting forward for Duke, finished with 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting and three rebounds in 27 minutes.
Myra, a guard who comes off the bench for Alabama, had two points on 1 of 3 shooting and five rebounds. Myra’s only basket came against Lexi when she secured an offensive rebound and put-back layup that gave the Tide a 50-49 lead with 1:02 left in the third quarter.
Duke led 36-30 at halftime and extended its lead to 45-35 at the 6:36 mark of the third quarter. But the Tide went on a 17-4 run and led 52-51 heading to the fourth.
Alabama led 69-63 with 2:19 to play, but Duke scored the next five capped off with two free throws by Lexi Gordon with 1:16 remaining. Williams picked up a rebound and layup to give the Blue Devils a 70-69 lead with 30 seconds left. Megan Abrams put Alabama back in front at 71-70 with 18 seconds on the clock.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 12:10 PM.
