TCU women find renovated arena to their liking with easy victory

The TCU women’s 52.6 shooting percentage from both the field and from behind the arc in the Horned Frogs’ 76-47 win over Southern Utah on Sunday was a welcome surprise to coach Raegan Pebley.

A morning shoot-around just hours before the game was the first time the team had a chance to shoot on the baskets of the newly renovated Schollmaier Arena, stationed in their regulation positions on the court.

Twice they had practiced in the arena, which underwent $72 million in renovations over the past season and a half, with the baskets several inches off their affixed positions.

“As a coach, without telling them, I was a little concerned with what our field goal percentage would be,” Pebley said.

TCU shot 10 for 19 from 3-point range, including a 3-for-3 performance from AJ Alix and 4-of-5 night for Toree Thompson.

It was the second time in three games for TCU to shoot more than 50 percent from the field, including a record 61.5 percent against Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 9.

TCU (8-3) opened the game without hesitation, mounting a 10-0 run early in the first quarter. The Horned Frogs’ 29 points in the first quarter were the most the team has posted in an opening frame this season, the first divided into four quarters of play.

Senior guard Veja Hamilton, who has dropped slightly this season after finishing sixth in the Big 12 in shooting percentage last season, found a spark in the new arena. She finished with a team-high and season-high 18 points, shooting 9 for 14 from the field.

“Honestly, my teammates did a really good job of finding me when I was open,” Hamilton said. “Their timing and our chemistry is what gave me confidence to shoot when I was open.”

Thunderbirds junior guard Jessica Richardson led both teams in scoring with 23 points, a season high.

After a week off due to finals, Pebley changed her starting lineup, giving senior forward Caitlin Diaz the nod over junior Jada Butts.

Diaz finished with a season-high 10 rebounds, one shy of her career high of 11.

“Caitlin had been playing with a senior sense of urgency,” Pebley said. “She had been doing a great job coming off the bench and executing and just in practice, there was a consistent focus out of her in practice. She wasn’t complacent.”

Nostalgia set in for Pebley after the game, remembering that her first game as a head coach was against the very Southern Utah program (2-8) that TCU beat Sunday, marking the first women’s basketball victory in Schollmaier Arena.

The team takes a short break for the Christmas holiday before returning to action Dec. 30 at Texas Tech.

The Frogs then return to Schollmaier Arena for the first home conference game of the season against former TCU coach Jeff Mittie and Kansas State.

“I think one of the coolest things about today and being able to play this first game here in Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena is that we get to do it again,” Pebley said. “It was so fun. It really sunk in as the game was going on in my head, thinking this was our home.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 8:48 PM with the headline "TCU women find renovated arena to their liking with easy victory."