How does UC San Diego plan to slow Olivia Miles and the vaunted TCU offense?
The UC San Diego Tritons know they will be underdogs when they face off with TCU in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday.
UC San Diego head coach Heidi VanDerveer talked about how the Tritons will try and slow down one of the nation’s most potent offenses, led by second-team All-American Olivia Miles.
The No. 3-seeded Horned Frogs (29-5) will try to increase their home winning streak to 43 games when they host No. 14 UC San Diego (24-8) at 11 a.m. Friday at Schollmaier Arena (ESPN). TCU is a massive 34.5-point favorite.
“I think I’ve watched Olivia Miles play since she was in high school,” VanDerveer said. “She is a tremendous talent. Obviously, TCU will be playing at the next level. It’ll be on our team, and I think that’s the strength of our team. We play real team basketball, defensively, very team-oriented.”
Miles averaged 19.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists this season on the way to being selected Big 12 Player of the Year.
One player who will be tasked with defending Miles will certainly be senior guard Makayla Rose, a two-time Big West defensive player of the year. VanDerveer said Rose wouldn’t be on an island but was ready for the assignment against Miles.
“Makayla Rose is an excellent defensive player, too,” VanDerveer said. “… Mac has probably one of the toughest jobs, but she is a relentless competitor. She is a gritty defender, and I think she’s done her homework, so you know she’ll be up for the challenge.”
Another problem the Horned Frogs present for the Tritons is their size. TCU centers Clara Silva and Kennedy Basham are 6-foot-7, and forward Marta Suárez is 6-3. The only player taller than 6-2 for the Tritons is 6-4 junior forward/center Erin Condron, who leads the team in scoring (15.7 points per game) and rebounding (8.6).
“A lot bigger than us,” Condron said. “That’s definitely going to be a challenge that we’re going to have to find a way around. But on top of that, I think that we play very fast, so I think that’s to our advantage.”
On top of the on-court challenges the Horned Frogs present, junior guard Donovyn Hunter talked about the advantage the home crowd brings as TCU looks to extend its winning streak at Schollmaier.
“I think, from the energy standpoint, the crowd noise, just it’s hard to describe,” she said. “You just have to be out there to, you know, build relationships with fans in the crowd, too. You’re able to gain momentum in the game. If you’re down or you’re kind of in a rut as a team, and you’re kind of on a bad stretch, you have the crowd behind you. So there’s a lot of different factors that go into it, but it’s definitely a huge advantage when you’re at home.”
Suárez talked about how supportive the TCU fan base has been this season and how happy she was to get to continue to play in front of it.
“It’s a sixth player,” she said. “I think the community has showed up in such a way for us this year, and then the fact that all of us as individuals are going to have family and friends there, encouraging. It’s just, I don’t know, my mind goes back to that senior night game. It was just so, so joyful, such a celebration of a season. So, you know, just excited, grateful to give them two more games at home.”
A victory Friday would give TCU one more home game this season, a second-round matchup Sunday against the winner of No. 6 Washington (21-10) and No. 11 South Dakota State (27-6) on Friday.
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 4:52 PM.
