TCU women’s basketball escapes from Kansas on Senior Night
TCU escaped Schollmaier Arena on Monday night with a 55-52 win over Kansas on Senior Night, but just barely.
The game was in serious doubt early as the Horned Frogs (16-13, 8-10 Big 12) shot just 6-of-29 from the field in the first half.
It was in doubt late in the third quarter when guard Timeka O’Neal drove through the middle fo the lane for a score that put the Jayhawks (5-24, 0-18) up 38-31 with 1:45 left in the period.
And after the Frogs played most of the fourth quarter with a slim lead, the outcome was in doubt once more in the game’s final minute as TCU forward Caitlin Diaz fouled Chayla Cheadle, sending the guard to the line with 11 seconds on the clock, right after Kansas’ Lauren Aldridge scored in the lane to cut the Horned Frogs’ lead to 53-52.
The Horned Frogs breathed their collective sigh of relief, though, when Cheadle missed both free throws.
Newly crowned all-time scoring leader Zahna Medley cashed in two final free throws two seconds later, and TCU avoided giving up what would have been Kansas’ only league win of the season on its home court.
Medley’s third 3-pointer of the game came with seven minutes to play and put TCU up 40-38, the lead the Frogs clung to the rest of the game. The senior left Schollmaier Arena with a 21-point, four-rebound performance in which she made 3-of-6 from 3-point range. It was vintage Medley when the Frogs needed it the most.
“I think there were some nerves, and there was a lot of emotion on the floor,” TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “But you also have to credit Kansas’ defense. They played really well.”
TCU was without seniors Veja Hamilton and Destynee Hives-McCray after the pair were suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules before Saturday’s game at Texas. The two average a combined 15 points per game, production the Frogs were barely able to scrape by without against Kansas.
The Frogs’ offense was sluggish in the first half before TCU went 7-of-11 from the field in the third quarter. Medley scored 14 of her 21 points in the second half and nine of those in the fourth quarter on a night when nothing else seemed to be working offensively.
“It’s so exciting. I’m just trying to cherish each and every moment I have left with this team,” Medley said. “It’s phenomenal, such a blessing. I knew I had to be a leader in that moment. We were struggling and I knew my teammates were going to look to me.”
Medley overtook Sandora Irvin as the Horned Frogs’ all-time leading scorer with the first of two free throws that came when she was fouled going to the hoop with 3:50 remaining in the game’s opening quarter. Irvin’s record of 1,892 career points had stood since 2005.
Diaz, another senior, chipped in with 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals in her final game at Schollmaier Arena as well.
“This game was a little like their time here,” Pebley said of the senior class. “So much adversity and they just kept picking themselves back up off the floor.”
TCU enters the Big 12 tournament, which starts Thursday in Oklahoma City, as the No. 7 seed and will face Kansas again in the opening round. The winner of that tournament game plays Texas in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 9:38 PM with the headline "TCU women’s basketball escapes from Kansas on Senior Night."