Lauren Heard reflects on ‘huge reward’ by becoming TCU basketball’s all-time scorer
The magnitude of the accomplishment was still setting in for Lauren Heard a day later.
She made TCU women’s basketball history on Wednesday night, becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer, but it still felt surreal before she went to practice on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s a huge reward for all the work that I’ve put in since my freshman year,” Heard said. “But it’s still hitting me slowly. I don’t want to limit myself to points, because I like to offer more things, but it’s a huge accomplishment. There’s so many great players before me, men and women, and to have this honor and surpass them is an honor in itself.”
Heard received a number of congratulations from former TCU basketball greats on the men’s side such as Desmond Bane and on the women’s side such as Adrianne Ross. Heard grew close to Bane as their college careers crossed paths at TCU.
“I remember when he was here, I was coming home from tutoring late and he was in the gym by himself getting shots in,” Heard said. “I saw that work ethic. So for the roles to reverse and for him to honor me and call me a ‘GOAT’ (greatest of all time) is surreal. It’s crazy. I remember watching him and saying, ‘That’s the type of work ethic and player I want to be.’”
Heard will leave a similar legacy with the Frogs.
She became the program’s all-time leading scorer with 21 points in TCU’s 83-79 loss to Texas Tech in Lubbock. That pushed Heard’s career total to 1,978 points, passing Zahna Medley’s original record of 1,975 points.
Next up for Heard is a push to join the 2,000-point club. She accomplished that feat during her high school career at Denton Guyer, and is now in position to do it in college.
Heard is just 22 points shy of that milestone. She’s scored at least 22 points in five games this season.
“That’s not my focus; the objective is to win, but being myself and being aggressive, I don’t see how that won’t happen,” said Heard, who is in her fifth season as she took advantage of the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility amid the COVID pandemic.
“I want to achieve that (2,000 points) in the near future, but definitely not change anything about how I play. I play the game the right way. I do want to leave a legacy and that’s a reason why I came back. I wanted to do something where I left my mark at a special place like TCU.”
The scoring record isn’t the only place where Heard will reside atop TCU’s record books. She set the TCU single-game steals record with 11 at Oklahoma on March 4, 2021; she set the single-season record for free throws made (171) in 2019-20; she set the single-season record for scoring average (21.2 ppg) in 2020-21; and she continues to extend her all-time record for free throws made (620) in a career.
Heard has also earned five Big 12 player of the week honors in her career, including for the week of Dec. 13 this season. She was a first-team All-Big 12 player last season and could earn more league honors this season. Heard ranks seventh in the Big 12 in scoring (14.9 points per game) and eighth in assists (4.0 per game).
Heard and the TCU women close out the regular season against Kansas State on Saturday at Schollmaier Arena. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. The senior class, headlined by Heard, will be honored before the game. Other seniors on the roster include Okako Adika, Michelle Berry, Kayla Mokwuah, Aahliyah Jackson and Yummy Morris.
The Frogs (6-20, 2-15 Big 12) will then play in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday in Kansas City. TCU is currently in the 10-seed, which would mean it’d face 7-seed West Virginia at 8 p.m. Thursday. But it could move up to the 9-seed, which means it’d play at 5:30 p.m.
