Elite again: TCU women advance, will play for spot in Final Four — 3 takeaways
TCU women’s basketball is headed back to the Elite Eight after the No. 3 seed Horned Frogs ended No. 10 Virginia’s upset run with a 79-69 win in the Sweet 16 on Saturday in Sacramento.
It was a tale of two halves as TCU (32-5) trailed by one after the first, but completely took over in the second to outmatch the upset-minded Cavaliers (22-12).
“What an incredible game,” TCU coach Mark Campbell said. “It took 40 minutes to get that win. What a second half, down one at half, and I think we settled into a rhythm. I think one of the greatest attributes of our team is we have a bunch of veterans.”
The Horned Frogs’ All-Big 12 graduate student duo of guard Olivia Miles and forward Marta Suarez delivered on the biggest stage yet as they combined for 61 points. Suarez had a career-high 33 points with 10 rebounds and three assists, while Miles had 28 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
Miles and Suarez scored or assisted on every point for TCU.
Miles put on a show during the fourth quarter with back-to-back layups that extended TCU’s lead to 65-52. The second bucket saw Miles nearly make a defender fall with a crossover, and she finished off the play with one of her signature scoop layups.
Virginia made one last push, cutting TCU’s lead to 65-55, but the Horned Frogs quickly delivered the knockout blow as Miles knocked down a 3 and Suarez hit sophomore center Clara Silva for a layup to end Virginia’s hopes of another upset.
“I think our team gets a little too excited at the start,” Miles said of the difference in the two halves. “It just takes us a quarter or a half to settle in, take their punches and realize what they’re doing to us. We’ve proven all year we can settle down, be mature and be poised and find our rhythm offensively and defensively.”
The Horned Frogs will face No. 1 seed South Carolina (34-3), which beat No. 4 Oklahoma 94-68 on Saturday, at 8 p.m. Monday for the chance to go to the Final Four. South Carolina defeated TCU 85-52 last season at Dickies Arena.
Here are three more takeaways from the win:
Where the game was won
The third quarter has typically been where TCU has played its best basketball, and that was no different Saturday. Trailing 36-35 at the half, the Horned Frogs started the second half on an 11-0 run sparked by Miles.
The Big 12 Player of the Year got her teammates going with assists to senior guard Taylor Bigby for a corner 3 and Silva for back-to-back layups. After Virginia briefly stopped the run, Miles ignited another spark with a tough layup to extend TCU’s lead to 48-38.
Miles’ best assist came near the end of the period when she rebounded a miss and made a nice bounce pass around a defender to Suarez for a bucket to make the lead 54-42. Miles capped the run with a signature stepback jumper as TCU took a 59-47 lead into the fourth quarter.
Miles dished out six assists in the third quarter as TCU turned a close game into a blowout.
“The third quarter has been great to us all year,” Campbell said. “The players come out and settle in. They understand the scout and know who they’re guarding. Every third quarter this group comes out and hoops. It allowed us to separate.”
Marta’s masterpiece
Making her first appearance in the Sweet 16, Suarez delivered one of her best games of the season, and it was needed, as TCU was locked in a tight battle from the opening tip.
Suarez’s best stretch came at the end of the first quarter into the start of the second as she scored nine of TCU’s next 11 points to turn a seven-point deficit into a tie game, 25-25, with 7:11 remaining in the first half.
Suarez finished with 18 points in the first, and Miles had 12.
Suarez helped TCU seize control of the game in the third quarter by dominating inside. With TCU leading 42-36, Suarez scored eight of the Horned Frogs’ next 10 points as they took a commanding 52-40 lead with 3:12 remaining in the period. Suarez crashed the glass, drew fouls and used her usual craftiness to pound the Virginia frontline, and she finished with 13 points in the third quarter.
“I was just hooping and it kept going in, so I kept shooting, to be honest,” Suarez said. “I think that’s my ability as a player. I think that’s what I take pride on. My ability to recognize the matchup and know that I can back somebody down, but I can also play from the triple threat.”
Slowing down Virginia’s star
Virginia junior guard Kymora Johnson has been the breakout star of March Madness with back-to-back 28-point games to lead the Cavaliers to the Sweet 16.
TCU junior guard Donovyn Hunter took the assignment and started the game well, blocking Johnson’s first attempt. But Johnson quickly got going with two 3s and eight points in the first as the Cavaliers threw the first punch to take a 21-17 lead.
Johnson was held to two just points in the second quarter as Hunter locked in on her matchup. Johnson had a key turnover during TCU’s 11-0 surge and didn’t score until less than five minutes remained in the third. With Hunter taking Johnson out of the game, Virginia’s supporting cast was unable to keep up the pace from the first half.
Johnson finished with 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting as TCU and Hunter were successful in slowing her down.
“Dono is such a hidden gem,” Miles said. “She does everything for our team defensively and contributes where she can offensively as well. She’s just amazing. Virginia runs a lot of screens. She’s getting hit left to right, and she’s staying down on pump fakes. Stuff I don’t want to do and the rest of our team doesn’t want to do, but she’s incredible and so strong-minded and selfless. And she’s like, ‘Guys, I got you.’”
This story was originally published March 28, 2026 at 8:30 PM.
