Photos by Velton Hayworth
FORT WORTH – TCU seniors Kianna Ray and Jaycee Bradley combined for eight three-pointers and 33 points on the way to leading the Horned Frogs to a 73-60 home win over No. 25-ranked West Virginia, Sunday night at Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena.
TCU pushed its overall record to 14-4 and the Horned Frogs are now tied for second-place in the Big 12 standings with a 5-2 mark in conference play. The Mountaineers dropped its fourth straight game, moving to 13-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12.
THE RUNDOWN
TCU shot nearly 60 percent and tied a season-high with 28 first quarter points on the way to a 19-point lead (28-9). TCU pushed its lead to 35-17 with 5:33 left to play in the second quarter and then managed to withstand WVU’s 11-0 run, taking an 11-point lead into the break following a 7-2 run to make it 42-31.
Six different players scored in a third quarter that saw TCU push its lead to 15-points, up 56-41, but the Mountaineers would eventually cut the lead back down to single digits after draining three of its first four buckets in the final quarter from downtown.
WVU would only get within nine points of the Horned Frogs though, as TCU managed to counter at the other end of the court when needed. Lauren Heard scored five of her 10 points in the fourth quarter to help keep the Frogs up and seal the victory late.
TCU defeated an AP Top-25 ranked team for the second time this season, giving the Frogs a pair of top-25 victories in the same season for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
Sunday’s loss marked the first time since the 2014-15 campaign that the Mountaineers have lost four straight games in a season.
QUOTABLE
“This was a good win for our team,” said TCU head coach Raegan Pebley. “This is a good RPI win. A good win over a ranked opponent. There were some unique challenges to this game. To this day. I am just proud of how we showed a lot of maturity and focus.”
UP NEXT
TCU is back on the road this coming Wednesday, Jan. 29, taking on Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
TCU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES
• TCU started with a lineup of Jayde Woods, Lauren Heard, Kianna Ray, Jaycee Bradley and Adeola Akomolafe for the 16th time this season. TCU is now 13-3 with this starting line-up.
• TCU tied a season-high with 28 points in the first quarter. The Horned Frogs also tied a season-best giving up just nine points to WVU in the first quarter.
• TCU scored 70+ points in a game for the 11th time this season overall and for the fifth time in six league games.
• The Horned Frogs ended the game shooting .433 (26-60) from the field overall, moving to 9-0 on the season when shooting 40 percent or better.
• TCU drained nine three-pointers and shot .429 from downtown overall, giving the Horned Frogs a 40 percent or better effort from three-point range for the sixth time this season. TCU is 6-0 in those games.
• TCU won the battle of the boards 40-34, marking the first game with at least 40 rebounds since Jan. 8, against Texas Tech (41).
• TCU is 14-4 through its first 18 games for the second straight season, but its 5-2 record in the Big 12 ranks as the best seven-game start since joining the league. It is the best start in conference play overall since opening 6-1 in the Mountain West Conference back in 2010-11.
PLAYER NOTES
• Kianna Ray led the Frogs with 19 points, going 6-for-9 overall and 4-of-6 from three-point range.
• Ray has tallied 10+ points in six straight games and has now led the team in scoring for a fifth time this season.
• Jaycee Bradley scored 14 points and also drained four three-pointers on the night.
• Bradley has made three three-pointers or more in eight games this season.
• Michelle Berry scored seven points and had a team-high seven rebounds.
• Berry led TCU on the boards for the fourth time this season.
• Lauren Heard scored 10 points, giving her 10 points or more in 15 straight games and for the 17th time in 18 games this season.
• Heard becomes the first player to score 10+ points in at least 15 straight games since Zahna Medley tallied 10+ in 18 straight games from Jan. 29 thru Nov. 22, 2014.
• Jayde Woods, who finished with 11 points, was 5-of-6 from the free throw line on Sunday. Woods has drained 25-of-30 (.833) from the charity stripe over the last six games.
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