Women win ninth straight
Frogs crush Miners by 23 to remain undefeated in WAC

By Kelly Morris
Associate Sports Editor

After shooting 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the field and holding Texas-El Paso to just 14 first-half points, the TCU women’s basketball team won its ninth-straight game Tuesday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

Tuesday’s win tied the TCU record for victories in a season (16) which was achieved each of the past two seasons. The Frogs are now 8-0 in the Western Athletic Conference and remain undefeated when scoring at least 70 points.

Head coach Jeff Mittie said the Frogs’ first-half performance overwhelmed the Miners.

“I was pleased with the way we came out,” Mittie said. “To step on a team like that (early), it is difficult for them to recover.”

The Miners best attempt at taking the lead came with just 1:31 gone in the first half when they tied the Frogs at 2-2. From that point on, TCU never trailed.With 17:28 remaining in the first half, TCU went on a 13-0 run extending its lead to 17-4. Senior guard Sally Spencer’s three pointer with 2:01 left in the half gave the Frogs a 26-point lead, their biggest of the half.

UTEP shot just 31.8 percent from the field in the first half and wasn’t able to convert on either of its two three-point attempts. In the second half, the Miners continued to struggle from behind the arc making just 2 of 7 attempts. TCU hit 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from three-point range in the first half and made 50 percent of its three-point attempts in the second half.

Before Tuesday’s game, TCU had connected on 144 of 362 three-pointers, averaging more than seven a game.

Senior guard Amy Porter said after shooting just 24.2 percent in the first half of Friday’s 62-58 win against Tulsa, it was nice to get the team’s offensive back on track.

“Your body feels different after you’ve taken a long break,” Porter said. “But (Tuesday night) everyone finally got back into their offensive rhythm.”

The Frogs were led in the first half by junior forward Kati Safaritova who scored 11 points.The Frogs continued their dominating play in the second half. They opened up a 35-point lead, their biggest of the game, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Porter said the Frogs’ depth on the bench helped carry the team’s first-half success into the second half.

“We didn’t even lose a step when our bench players came in,” Porter said. “It was especially a huge advantage (for us) because UTEP’s defense didn’t get a chance to let up against us.”

Kelly Morris
k.l.morris@student.tcu.edu