TCU women’s seniors reflect on long Schollmaier win streak, hope to add one more
TCU women’s basketball has won 43 straight games at home, and the seniors hope to book a return trip to the Sweet 16 with win No. 44 in their final appearance at Schollmaier Arena.
The third-seeded Horned Frogs (30-5) will host No. 6 Washington (22-10) at 9 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.
Several seniors talked Saturday about the moments at Schollmaier they would remember. Stars Olivia Miles and Marta Suárez cited the team’s senior night performance against Baylor on March 1, when the Horned Frogs clinched the outright Big 12 regular-season championship, as the game that would stick with them.
Suárez focused on the team’s camaraderie, saying the Baylor game was like a wedding for the Horned Frogs
“That was just a special weekend overall,” she said. “Like, not only we had the opportunity to host ‘College GameDay,’ so bringing the attention to Big 12 and to TCU and to this team, but it was also senior night, so it was a lot of important people and families and friends here.
“And then as the last game of the season, the community really showed up. It was packed. The energy was intense, and the team really showed up. We had a great game. ... It was just a celebration of a season, just a great weekend. We had a dinner the night before to celebrate the seniors. It almost felt like a wedding.”
Guard Donovyn Hunter isn’t a senior, but the junior is one of the few Horned Frogs who has been here for the past two years, and she agreed with Suárez’s point.
“Cutting down nets for sure [for the Big 12 title], and just being able to watch all the seniors have their senior night,” she said. “I enjoyed the moment. All the families were here, their friends. The community was great that weekend.”
Senior guard Taylor Bigby, who, like Hunter, has been in Fort Worth for two seasons, couldn’t pick one moment. Instead, she focused on the way TCU has made her feel.
“I think just the fans, the homey environment that it’s given me for the past two years,” she said. “Bittersweet moment, but I know it’s for the good at the end of the day. But I’m gonna always remember the two teams that I played on here, and the girls that I shared many wins with, and then the coaches as well. But the fans are something I’m really gonna remember.”
Bigby played on the first two Horned Frogs teams to win Big 12 titles.
“Those are things that no one will be able to take away from me, and that’s what basketball and the relationships that we build are about,” she said. “At the end of the day, I came here because I wanted to be a part of something special, and I want to keep making history. Want to keep writing history, so the job’s not done.”
Bigby explained how the coaches and players stay focused on the games in front of them and not on extending the home winning streak.
“Just staying focused and all having the same common goal,” she said. “And just going out there and playing like your life depends on it, literally, because it does at this point. It’s March, and it’s win or go home. So I think that’s just the mentality to it. So we’re not even thinking about [the win streak]. We’re not even thinking like that. We’re just thinking about ‘get the job done.’ We want to keep playing, and we know that losing, it’s just not an option at this point.”
