TCU women begin conference play at Texas Tech

With the strength of the Big 12, the TCU women’s basketball team has the opportunities it needs to make a push for the NCAA Tournament.

That march through the conference slate begins Wednesday night in Lubbock against a 9-2 Texas Tech squad that is riding an eight-game home winning streak.

TCU finished nonconference play ranked No. 142 in RPI with an 8-3 record, one win shy of the mark coach Raegan Pebley would have liked heading into Big 12 play.

The injury bug bit the Horned Frogs throughout December, putting two TCU starters — AJ Alix and Veja Hamilton— and reserve Destynee Hives-McCray on the bench for multiple games due to undisclosed ailments.

Both Alix and Hives-McCray missed a key matchup against Big East opponent Butler — a 65-53 loss on Dec. 1.

But Pebley said she has liked the continuity her team has shown despite a rotating lineup.

“I think we’ve seen that we’ve got a lot of different ways we can score,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of people that can score. I feel like we’ve made some strides and some breakthroughs in our communication on defense.”

TCU leads the conference in 3-point shooting at 41.3 percent. Toree Thompson not only leads the Horned Frogs but also the conference in 3-point field goal percentage at 54.2. Zahna Medley leads the conference in 3-point field goals made, averaging three per game.

TCU must defend a Texas Tech team with four players averaging double-digit points. Junior guard Ivonne CookTaylor leads the offensive charge with 14.4 points per game.

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 7:23 PM with the headline "TCU women begin conference play at Texas Tech."