No. 10 TCU women’s basketball finishes unbeaten at home with blowout win over Houston
No. 10 TCU completed the regular season with an undefeated record at Schollmaier Arena after rolling Houston, 91-56, on Wednesday night.
It was an emotional night for the Horned Frogs as TCU honored seniors including Hailey Van Lith, Sedona Prince, Madison Conner and Agnes Emma-Nnopu.
“That was a fun night, what a way to wrap up our home slate this year,” head coach Mark Campbell said. “To go 19-0 is just incredibly hard to do. I’m just thankful for everybody that’s given us such a good home court advantage.”
Not only did the seniors go out on a high note in the final regular season game in Fort Worth, the win over the Cougars should ensure TCU will host a first and second round game in the NCAA Tournament.
Fresh off of scoring 26 against West Virginia on Sunday, Van Lith stayed hot for the second straight game. She received the loudest ovation of all TCU players at the beginning of the game and dazzled the crowd throughout the first half as she aggressively looked to score.
Van Lith almost outscored Houston by herself in the opening 20 minutes as she scored 20 points to lead TCU to a 52-21 halftime lead. Van Lith had the same number of field goals (7) as the entire Houston roster in the first half in one of her best games as a Horned Frog.
“What Hailey did in that first half was unbelievable,” Campbell said.
Van Lith got her buckets in a variety of ways, including a smooth crossover against a Houston defender that led to an easy layup. That wasn’t the only highlight play Van Lith would deliver as she knocked four 3-pointers and dished out four assists in one of TCU’s best first-half performances of the year. Van Lith finished with 26 points.
Conner and Prince were two more seniors that had big halves. Conner knocked down three 3-pointers while Prince had eight points and led a defensive effort that held Houston below 30% shooting in the first half. Prince finished 13 points and nine rebounds while Conner added 15.
The Horned Frogs maintained a 30-point lead in the final two quarters as TCU was able to empty the bench to allow other seniors like Deasia Merrill, Una Jovanovic, Natalie Mazurek to get extended playing time down the stretch.
Walk-on Ella Hamlin also got extended minutes. Hamlin was one of the walk-ons that joined the program last January when TCU was ravaged by injuries and she’s remained on the roster as a fan favorite. Hamlin received a loud ovation when checking into the game in the second half.
“Ella should’ve gotten more chants,” Van Lith said. “She’s the best, we love Ella. As soon as she subs into the game we’re trying to run isos for her to just to shoot it.”
Merrill, a reserve center, made the most of her minutes with nine points and six rebounds as she continues to be a late season revelation off the bench.
By handling its business, the stage is now set for TCU to go after the program’s first Big 12 regular season title against Baylor in the regular season finale in Waco. The game will decide the league champion and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Women’s Conference Tournament in Kansas City beginning March 5.
“I think it’s awesome, Sunday’s going to be a crazy game,” Conner said. “Not only is it for the league title, it’s also a rivalry game and it’s their senior night. They’re going to have a lot of emotions and the crowd behind them, but I think we’re ready to go in there and handle business.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 8:25 PM.
