TCU women’s basketball came into Friday’s NCAA Tournament first-round game as a heavy favorite and left no question why in an 86-40 victory over UC San Diego at Schollmaier Arena.

The No. 3-seeded Horned Frogs (30-5) started the game on an 11-2 run spearheaded by graduate point guard Olivia Miles that was representative of what was to come against the No. 14 Tritons (24-9).

On Thursday, head coach Mark Campbell said the only thing guaranteed in the NCAA Tournament was 40 minutes, and TCU exemplified that, playing a near-perfect game from the opening tip. The Horned Frogs had their 11th game of the season making 10 or more 3-pointers and shot 50% from 3-point range in the win (13-for-26).

The Horned Frogs move on to face No. 6 Washington, which defeated No. 11 South Dakota State 72-54 on Friday, in a second-round game at 9 p.m. Sunday at Schollmaier.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Olivia Miles’ best game as a Horned Frog?

All season Miles and graduate forward Marta Suárez have dominated teams, and the pair’s first foray into March Madness together could’ve scarcely gone better.

Miles might’ve had a slow scoring night, but she set a season high for assists before the fourth quarter had even started and finished the game with a triple-double with 12 points, 16 rebounds and career-high-tying 14 assists.

Head coach Mark Campbell called it the best game of Miles’ one season with the Horned Frogs.

“To break our all-time single-game assist record while having a triple-double during March Madness, holy cow,” Campbell said. “ I think at halftime she was on pace for 20 assists, 20 rebounds, but again, it’s the magnitude of the game, the stage, and just everything. Olivia, her ability, you saw it within the first four minutes of the game, the pep, the pop she played with. I mean, she was in attack mode, and when Olivia is like that, our team feeds off it. We’re at a whole different level.”

TCU scored 36 points off Miles’ passes, which ESPN Insights said is the most points created off assists in an NCAA Tournament game since it began tracking the data in 2021.

Miles also set a career-high with 16 rebounds and talked about the satisfaction she gets helping her team in ways besides scoring.

“It’s a different sense of urgency that I came with, and I promised myself that I’d help my team out in any way that I can,” she said. “And I know that it starts with me and attacking the glass early, so I have the ball in my hands and I can control it. I think I was finding people early, and I literally told Mark, I was like, if I go out there and I have zero points and 20 assists, I’ll be just as happy. That’s just what I love to do, and that’s what brings me the most joy playing basketball.”

Suárez got off to a quick start, hitting a couple of 3s as part of the opening 11-2 run. She finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Taylor Bigby bombs from 3

Before the game, senior guard Taylor Bigby talked about the team’s camaraderie, saying the Horned Frogs were always happy cheering on whoever’s night it was — and it was her night in the first half Friday.

Bigby only missed one shot in the first half on her way to 17 points with two rebounds and an assist in only 14 minutes of action and was outscoring UC San Diego by herself for parts of the first half.

She finished the game with a career-high 27 points, making 7 of 9 3-pointers, with three rebounds and two blocks.

Bigby said she didn’t put any extra emphasis on scoring.

“I’m not gonna say I blacked out, but honestly, I was just out there playing with my team,” she said. “I wasn’t playing to get 27 tonight, but they just kept finding me, and it was just within the flow of our offense.”

No easy baskets

UC San Diego was the second-best scoring team in the Big West, averaging 71.1 points per game, but the Tritons were stymied by TCU.

The Tritons were not able to get easy or consistent buckets shooting only 23% from the field and 17% from 3, and the Horned Frogs were able to hold them in check without forcing repeated turnovers.

“There were special performances up and down the roster,” Campbell said. “But I thought our defensive effort, defending the 3 and making it hard for these guys to score. Got out in transition, and we really were able to just really get in a rhythm.”

UC San Diego’s leading scorer coming into the game was florward Erin Condron. She scored 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting with the Horned Frogs, and centers Clara Silva and Kennedy Basham specifically, defending Condron well.

“Those two have become just an incredible two-headed monster, especially defensively,” Campbell said. “They’re so long and athletic and mobile. They’re hard to score over, and that’s been the case all year. We’ve been one of the best defensive field goal percentage teams in college basketball, and it’s really those two anchor all of it.

“Most teams have to double [Condron] or do something in order to help, and then their shooters get free. Tonight, we’re able to play her man, straight-up man-to-man, and then we could stay home on the perimeter.”

The pair combined for five blocks in the game, while Silva finished with a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

This story was originally published March 20, 2026 at 1:01 PM.

Lawrence Dow

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Lawrence Dow is a digital sports reporter from Philadelphia. He graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from USC. He’s passionate about movies and is always looking for a great book. He covers the Texas Rangers and other sports.