TCU falters down the stretch, falls to No. 9 West Virginia in Big 12 opener

A fourth-quarter lead ultimately wasn’t enough to power the TCU women’s basketball team to an upset over No. 9 West Virginia, as the Frogs fell 87-82 Thursday night at Schollmaier Arena.

TCU (9-3, 0-1), which got off to its best non-conference start since 2003, couldn’t overcome stiffened competition, but still impressed in its Big 12 opener. The Frogs led for most of the third quarter and by five points early in the fourth quarter, but West Virginia (13-0, 1-0) scored 34 points on 10-of-14 shooting in the final period to break the Frogs’ hearts.

The Mountaineers remain the Big 12’s only unbeaten team.

Amber Ramirez was the leading scorer for TCU with 21 points, while Amy Okonkwo, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, added 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

The game was a back-and-forth affair until the fourth quarter with nine ties and six lead changes. The Frogs’ biggest lead was by seven midway through the second quarter, but West Virginia closed the period with five points in the final minute to take a 35-34 halftime lead.

Naomi Davenport led the Mountaineers with 32 points, and Katrina Pardee added 17, with 15 coming in the fourth quarter.

Though it wasn’t enough to give TCU the win, the Frogs did maintain a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (17/16), thanks to two assists in the final 26 seconds. The Frogs are the only Big 12 team that hasn’t finished a game this season with more turnovers than assists.

Next up, TCU travels to Lawrence, Kansas, to take on the Jayhawks Sunday at 2 p.m.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 10:12 PM with the headline "TCU falters down the stretch, falls to No. 9 West Virginia in Big 12 opener."