Sweet 16: Why TCU women’s basketball looks forward to rematch with Notre Dame
TCU’s 76-68 win over Notre Dame last November was a massive moment for the women’s basketball program.
The win over a top-10 opponent was the ultimate confidence builder for a team that featured so many new transfer players, including Hailey Van Lith and Donovyn Hunter. It also cemented TCU as a legitimate March Madness contender.
As important as that moment was for the Horned Frogs, TCU is eager to show how much it has grown since that win when the two teams face off in Birmingham in the Sweet Sixteen at noon Saturday.
As TCU looked back on the film from that game, it was eye-opening to Van Lith how much different the team looks now.
“Watching it on film, (it’s crazy) how much better we’ve gotten,” Van Lith said Tuesday. “It’s just so different how we play now. I’m super excited because we have gotten a lot better, especially from a defensive standpoint. I think we’ve taken the intensity up.”
TCU has made lineup changes
The Horned Frogs were still finding themselves in late November as head coach Mark Campbell tried different starting lineups. In the first matchup it was Van Lith, Hunter, Madison Conner, Taylor Bigby and Sedona Prince starting.
TCU will have a new lineup with Agnes Emma-Nnopu filling Bigby’s spot. Along with a lineup switch, one of the biggest changes for the Horned Frogs since the win over the Fighting Irish is the emergence of Hunter.
Hunter went scoreless that game, and she only had two double-digit scoring games during the non-conference schedule against Samford and New Orleans.
Now she’s playing some of her best basketball, coming off a career-high 18 points in the second-round win over Louisville.
Figuring out which players mesh the best together is essential to teams maximizing their potential and the Horned Frogs have unlocked the right combination at the right time.
“We’re not the same team,” Campbell said. “Because of all the new pieces, half our roster was new and at that time you’re trying to form your identity and your leadership. The players are figuring each other out. At this point of the year now we’re operating at full capacity. This group is maxing themselves out.
“At that time your scheme, your subbing rotation, all of those things you’re working things out.”
Campbell said it’s been fun to look back at that moment and see how far this team has come. The Horned Frogs were a talented group of transfers at that point, but after the battles through the Big 12 TCU is now a tight knit group that has established roles from the stars down to the role players.
Notre Dame is playing better too
It’s one reason the Horned Frogs are so eager for another shot at Notre Dame, but there’s also an understanding that the Fighting Irish are a different team too.
Notre Dame closed the end of the regular season and the ACC Tournament shaky with four losses in five games, but the Fighting Irish have breezed through their first two tournament games and are starting to look like the team that was ranked No. 6 in the preseason.
“Since we’ve played them their main (power forward) Maddy Westbeld has come back,” Van Lith said. “She’s definitely an added component, but they play a lot smaller now which has its pros and cons. We’ll definitely have to watch the last time we played them, but also their recent games because they do run a lot of different actions.”
Westbeld is listed at 6-foot-2 and has averaged 7.7 points and 2.9 rebounds since returning to the lineup on Jan. 5. Van Lith says her impact goes beyond her stats.
“Maddy really changes the playing style with her versatility,” Van Lith said. “We’re going to watch what worked last time, but also what has changed since we last played them.”
In the first matchup, TCU’s big three of Van Lith, Prince and Conner outscored Notre Dame’s own big three of Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron with 59-57.
The Horned Frogs also got eight big points off the bench from Emma-Nnopu compared to just five for Notre Dame. The Horned Frogs also made two more 3-pointers.
All of those things can be replicated, especially with the confidence TCU is playing with.
Defeating an elite team like Notre Dame twice is difficult, but the Horned Frogs got the first win before they realized their full potential.
Now they’re playing their best basketball and determined to keep the historic season rolling.
This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 10:06 AM.
