TCU women’s basketball stays undefeated after win over Sam Houston State
No. 17 TCU women’s basketball extended its home winning streak to 26 games and remained undefeated with an 88-46 win over Sam Houston State on Sunday at Schollmaier Arena.
TCU forced Sam Houston to take a timeout less than three minutes after tipoff after the Horned Frogs went on a 9-0 run to start the game, in which the Bearkats looked overmatched in a sign of things to come.
The Bearkats didn’t score their first basket until a fast-break bucket with a little over four minutes left in the first quarter. They ended the quarter with more turnovers (9) than points (8) in what was a defensive showcase for the Horned Frogs.
Defensive domination
TCU’s half-court defense in particular made it a long night for Sam Houston as the Bearkats struggled to score against the Horned Frogs’ set defense, with almost every shot contested or taken as the shot clock was winding down.
Head coach Mark Campbell said that despite the numbers, there was a lot of room for improvement from the team.
“Oh, man, we’re a work in progress on defense and right now, it’s one of those just, you want the kids to play hard. You want them to play with passion. If you’re going to make a mistake, make it because you’re being aggressive, and because of our depth, we want to wear teams out and have pressure on them consistently, and so today, they’re able to do that. But at the same time, I mean, we got to get a lot better on that end, and then we got to finish possessions and box out, I think we gave up 14 offensive rebounds, and that’s too many for the size and athletic ability that we have,” Campbell said.
Sunday was a step in the right direction, as the Bearkats ended the night shooting 29% from the field and shot 38% on layups, with the Horned Frogs’ length and size making scoring in the paint increasingly difficult.
Double-digit duo
TCU’s scoring effort was varied, with Olivia Miles and Donovyn Hunter both scoring 20 points or more, early-season highs for both players.
Miles and Hunter were also the team’s top passers, with a combined 15 assists.
Hunter finished her night with a career-high 20 points, five rebounds and six assists. After the game, Campbell praised Hunter for her ability to play different roles and the way she sets the tone for the Horned Frogs.
“She sets the tone for us defensively every single night, and her growth to go from last year to this year, and the way she’s been shooting it and playing, I’m so proud of her, but she’s stepping up as an upperclassman,“ said Campbell.
Hunter talked about improving her offensive game.
“I mean, I was glad the ball fell in the net a little bit more than last game, but overall, another goal of mine was to just force myself to be more confident on the offensive end, especially being one of the only returners,” Hunter said. “We can’t control whether the ball goes in or not, so I’m glad that tonight was one of those nights where it happened to fall.”
Miles led the way in scoring, with 22 points, three rebounds, nine assists and four steals. Campbell noted that TCU didn’t return many starters this year outside of Hunter, so Miles has stepped up into a leadership role.
“She’s just an incredible young lady, young person, brilliant basketball player, brilliant mind, and so truly figuring out her and her game, how to coach her, how to challenge her, how to push her, how to give her confidence,” Campbell said. “The nucleus is these portal kids, and so Liv is a ringleader. I’m super thankful for her and we’re just getting started, you guys, trust me. Olivia is just getting her legs under her.”
Turnover woes
In the blowout, one problem that emerged for the Horned Frogs was ball security. After having turned it over 16 times in their season-opening win, TCU led the matchup in turnovers at halftime (13) but finished the game with 20, cutting their second half turnovers almost in half.
TCU also struggled to cash in on the Bearkats’ turnovers, with only nine points off 16 turnovers in the game, and with some of their turnovers coming after trying to push the pace off Bearkats mistakes.
“We’re too skilled to have 20 turnovers. We are, we’re way too talented. Give Sam Houston a lot of credit. Those kids played really hard,” said Campbell. “You can’t have 20 turnovers and win big games, and so we challenged them at halftime, and they came out, and our group did a much better job in the second half.“
TCU will play Tennessee State next on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
This story was originally published November 9, 2025 at 9:07 PM.
