‘A hungry dog hunts best’: No. 10 TCU women ready for Big 12 Tournament defense
After clinching its second straight Big 12 regular-season title, No. 10 TCU women’s basketball remains hungry to add more hardware to its trophy case.
The top-seeded Horned Frogs will enter the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri, starting Wednesday, in the midst of a six-game winning streak as March Madness officially begins.
In the eyes of head coach Mark Campbell, this is the best part of the season.
“It’s one and done. You win you stay, you lose, and you go home,” Campbell said Tuesday. “There’s just a different vibe and a different energy at this time of the year. This is what March is about, finding a way to survive and advance. This group is excited.
“We’re old. We have a bunch of veterans. At the end of the day, March is why they came here, and this is the journey we’ve been on to get to this point. We’re ready for it.”
TCU will face either No. 8 seed Utah, No. 9 BYU or No. 16 Houston in its opening game at 1:30 p.m. Friday on ESPNU. The Horned Frogs won’t find out their opponent until Thursday afternoon.
Learning your opponent at the last minute could be stressful for some rosters, but the Horned Frogs have a wealth of experience that they’ll rely on in Kansas City and in the NCAA Tournament.
Junior guard Donovyn Hunter and senior guard Taylor Bigby went through the postseason grind last season to help TCU secure the Big 12 Tournament championship, and they said experience will pay dividends as they try to defend their title.
“It’s exciting. I think our mentality will be to just take it one game at a time,” Hunter said. “We understand that we also have things we’re fighting for. We have teams we want to be able to play, and we want to advance as far as we can. This could be one more thing we could add to our resume.”
The Horned Frogs would have no issue with Utah being their first opponent after the Utes defeated TCU 87-77 in overtime on Jan. 3. Avenging one of their few losses in league play would be a great way to start off postseason play.
One other thing TCU is playing for is to improve its seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs are a lock to be a top-16 seed and host first- and second-round games at Schollmaier Arena.
But TCU is also still holding out hope to play in one of the Fort Worth regionals at Dickies Arena for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Improving its standing among the other national No. 3 seeds or even finding a way to move up to No. 2 seed would greatly enhance TCU’s chances of staying in Fort Worth.
Even with the lofty goals in mind, the Horned Frogs remain grounded as they prepare for the tournament.
“We’re just remaining hungry. Mark said it once that a hungry dog hunts best,” Bigby said. “I think for us, we have to continue to stay hungry and not be content with whatever we have won because it’s the past, and we have to live in the present.
“I think [our experience] has helped a lot. We’ve all been to the tournament, we’ve all been to March Madness, and we know what it takes and [how small] the margin of error is. I think that’s a sense of leadership we can bring to our team.”
Bigby and Hunter aren’t the only Horned Frogs with March Madness experience. TCU’s dynamic duo of Olivia Miles and Marta Suarez also have had plenty of postseason battles before they arrived in Fort Worth.
Miles helped lead Notre Dame to two Sweet 16s, including last year when TCU knocked off the Fighting Irish in Birmingham, Alabama. Suarez helped lead California to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019 last season, and she also began her career at Tennessee, battling in the SEC.
Even sophomore center Clara Silva got her first taste of March Madness last season with Kentucky. The amount of experience lessens the coaching burden for Campbell, as he knows he has a team that understands the magnitude of each game.
“It’s huge. Last year we were the oldest team in college basketball, and this year we’re the oldest team,” Campbell said. “These kids have been through wars and battles. They’ve all played over 120 games. It’s very valuable.
“Obviously Dono and Tay are the two that had huge rules a year ago that are back. Marta and Olivia have been in monster games their whole careers. [Senior center] Kennedy Basham is an old veteran. I love it, and they love this. They’re wired for it.”
Campbell said the Horned Frogs will bring a healthy level of swagger and confidence into Kansas City, which is well-earned after TCU navigated a gauntlet at the end of the season to claim the regular-season title.
March Madness is here, and TCU has everything it needs to go on another magical run, starting with the Big 12 Tournament.
Big 12 Tournament schedule
First round (Wednesday)
No. 12 Kansas State vs. No. 13 Cincinnati, 11 a.m., ESPN+
No. 9 BYU vs. No. 16 Houston, 1:30 p.m., ESPN+
No. 10 Arizona State vs. No. 15 Arizona, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
No. 11 Kansas vs. No. 14 Central Florida, 8 p.m., ESPN+
Second round (Thursday)
No. 5 Texas Tech vs. Kansas State-Cincinnati winner, 11 a.m., ESPN+
No. 8 Utah vs. BYU-Houston winner, 1:30 p.m., ESPN+
No. 7 Iowa State vs. Arizona State-Arizona winner, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
No. 6 Colorado vs. Kansas-Central Florida winner, 8 p.m., ESPN+
Quarterfinals (Friday)
No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. TBD, 11 a.m., ESPNU
No. 1 TCU vs. TBD, 1:30 p.m., ESPNU
No. 2 West Virginia vs. TBD, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
No. 3 Baylor vs. TBD, 8 p.m., ESPN+
Semifinals (Saturday)
First semifinal, 3 p.m., ESPN+
Second semifinal, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
Final (Sunday*)
Championship game, 4 p.m., ESPN
*If BYU makes the final, the game will be moved to 3 p.m. Monday
