Senior Jordan Moore posted her 11th double-double of the season and sophomore Lauren Heard flirted with a triple-double as the TCU women’s basketball team defeated UT Arlington, 71-54, in the second round of the WNIT on Saturday afternoon at Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena.
With the victory, TCU moves to 16-3 at home this year, setting a new program record for the most home wins in a single season. It had previously won 15 home games on four occasions.
The Horned Frogs (22-10) advance to face the winner of Sunday’s second-round contest between Arkansas and UAB. The date, time and location of the third-round game will be announced Sunday evening.
TCU led wire-to-wire in its win over UT Arlington (24-8) and has yet to trail this postseason after doing the same in its opening round triumph over Prairie View A&M.
Senior Amy Okonkwo led the Frogs with 19 points while fellow classmate Jordan Moore posted her 11th double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Sophomore Lauren Heard put up one of the most complete performances of her young career, flirting with a triple-double before finishing with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Rundown
TCU started the game by making four of its first six shots and closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to double up the Lady Mavericks and take a 20-10 lead. The Frogs held UT Arlington to just two points over the final 7:03 of the first frame.
The Horned Frogs continued their stellar defense in the second quarter, limiting the Lady Mavs to just three points and 0-of-9 shooting over the final 5:36 of the first half. The Frogs would take a 35-20 lead to the locker room at the half, with Okonkwo leading the way with nine points and six rebounds.
The Lady Mavericks stormed back in the third quarter, cutting TCU’s lead to 47-43 with just over a minute remaining. That would be as close as they would get, however, as Moore dropped in back-to-back buckets in the final minute of the quarter to give the Frogs some breathing room heading to the final quarter, up 51-43.
TCU buckled down defensively for the remainder of the game, holding UT Arlington to just 33.3 percent shooting in the fourth quarter. The Horned Frogs were a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final stanza and outscored the Lady Mavericks 24-11 over the final 11 minutes of the game to seal a 71-54 victory.
Stat of the Day
16 – TCU won its 16th home game of the season on Saturday setting a new program record. It had previously won 15 home games in the 2006-07, 2007-09, 2009-10 and 2014-15 campaigns. With Saturday’s win, the Horned Frogs also advance to the Sweet 16 of the WNIT where it will face the winner of Sunday’s Arkansas/UAB match-up.
Quotes of the Day
TCU Head Coach Raegan Pebley
“We have so much respect for UT Arlington and for what Krista [Gerlich], Talby [Justus], and the rest of their staff do. They are personal friends of ours. I think that with the success they had this year, I know that both of us felt like we should be in the NCAA Tournament this year with the seasons that we had. We are both really proud of our teams and how they have chinned up and moved forward. We knew that we were going to have to come out here and play really hard, and any time that we rested they took advantage of it with a backdoor cut or an offensive rebound. I was proud of our team, and I thought that our seniors really played like seniors should. They led us not just on the stat sheet, but in body language, communication and other intangibles. We are excited to be headed to the Sweet 16.”
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TCU Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
March 23, 2019 – Fort Worth, Texas (Schollmaier Arena)
Attendance: 1,531
TCU (22-10) — 71
Prairie View A&M (24-8) — 54
TEAM NOTES
* The Horned Frogs recorded their 22nd win of the season, marking the ninth time in program history that the Frogs have reached 22 wins.
* TCU is in the midst of its seventh WNIT appearance and fifth in the last six seasons.
* TCU advanced all the way to the semifinals of the WNIT last season.
* TCU improves to 11-6 all-time in the WNIT, including an 8-1 record at home.
* It was the Horned Frogs’ first meeting with the Lady Mavericks since Dec. 8, 2010 in Fort Worth when TCU won 81-39.
* TCU is now 18-9 all-time against UT Arlington and has won the last 15 meetings between the two schools.
* The Horned Frogs started with a lineup of Lauren Heard, Kianna Ray, Amy Okonkwo, Jayde Woods, and Jordan Moore for the eighth time this season and are now 6-2 with this starting lineup.
* TCU improved to 16-3 at home this season, setting a new school record for most home wins in a season.
* TCU improves to 18-1 this season when leading at halftime.
* TCU never trailed for the eighth time this season.
* TCU held UTA to 20 points in the first half, the second-lowest total allowed by the Frogs in a half in the WNIT in school history. The 20 points is second only to the 16 Prairie View scored in the first half of last round.
* The 20 points TCU allowed in the first half was the fewest allowed by the Frogs in a half in the second round or later of the WNIT.
* All 11 active players played for TCU for the second consecutive game.
* The Horned Frogs made a season-high 24 free throws in 31 attempts (77.4 percent). Additionally, TCU’s 24 free throws were the most they have made in a WNIT game in school history.
* TCU overcame its worst shooting performance from 3-point range, making only one of its 13 attempts (7.7 percent) from beyond-the-arc.
* TCU’s 3-point makes and percentage were season lows and its 13 attempts tied a season low, last occurring at Kansas on Feb. 27.
* TCU’s lone 3-pointer came from Amy Okonkwo and was the very first basket of the game by either team. The Frogs have made at least one 3-pointer in 242 consecutive games.
* The Horned Frogs outscored the Lady Mavericks 44-18 in the paint.
* The Frogs recorded 14 assists as a team today which gives them 497 on the season. This passes the 2015-16 team on the single season assists chart for sixth place.
* TCU pulled down 46 rebounds in the victory which ties for the fifth most TCU has recorded in a single game.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Lauren Heard
* Scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, her eighth game of the season in double figures.
* Tied her career high with a team-high six assists, last occurring at West Virginia Feb. 16.
* Also added seven rebounds.
Jordan Moore
* Played in the 130th game of her career, tying her with Helena Sverrisdottir (2007-11), Moneka Knight (2004-08), and Ebony Shaw (2000-04) for the second most games played in school history.
* Scored 18 points and grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds, her 11th double-double of the season and the 20th of her career.
* Moore’s 14 rebounds is her third highest rebound total of the season, and the most since she tied her career high of 16 rebounds against Oklahoma St. on Feb. 3.
* Eight of Moore’s 14 rebounds came on the offensive end.
* Increased her season rebound total to 268, the seventh-highest rebound total in school history.
* Moore has recorded at least six rebounds in 26 of TCU’s 32 games this season.
* Moore’s five field goals give her 199 total field goals this season. She surpassed Sandora Irvin’s 195 field goals during the 2003-04 season, giving her the third-most field goals in a season in TCU history.
* Moore added a block, giving her a block in 16 of her last 17 games.
* Attempted 12 free throws, tying the most she attempted in her career. She last tried 12 free throws against Kansas State earlier this year on February 23.
* Moore has now attempted 191 free throws this season, the third most in a season in school history.
Amy Okonkwo
* Scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) shooting.
* Made TCU’s only 3-pointer, which was the first field goal of the game for either team, boosting her career total to 100 made 3-pointers.
* She is now one of two active Horned Frogs (Kianna Ray, 122 3-pointers) and one of 12 players overall in school history to reach the century mark in career 3-pointers made.
Kianna Ray
* Dished out four assists, giving her 306 in her career, passing Amy (Sutton) Potter (1997-01) and Leah Garcia (1994-98) for seventh place on TCU’s all-time assists leaderboard.
* Recorded two blocks and two steals, her eighth game this season with multiple blocks and steals.
Dakota Vann
* Was 3-for-3 from the free throw line, tying her season high in made free throws.
* Recorded a +/- of +18 during her 19 minutes on the floor.