By Danny Horne staff reporter The Lady Horned Frogs reached the 80-point plateau for the first time in six games Saturday night against Tulsa. TCU beat Tulsa 80-58 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum and improved to 12-11 overall and 3-5 in Western Athletic Conference play. TCU is 9-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points. "We have had real success in the 80-point range, but lately, we have had to work really hard to get there because the game has slowed down for us," head coach Jeff Mittie said. "Our injuries have made us cut back on the pressure defensively because we try to stay rested during the game. We have some players logging large amounts of minutes every game." The Horned Frogs took a 36-28 lead into intermission and opened the second half with a 7-0 run. "We came out flat and made it tough on ourselves," Tulsa forward Lila Osceola said. "No matter what we did, we could not run, and we could not get into our offense as well as we wanted to." Mittie said one of the goals was to keep shooters like senior guard Kasi Pittman and senior guard Tammy Goyne in front and to not give them any open looks at the basket. TCU controlled the rebounds all night and finished with a 47-27 advantage. "We attacked the glass very well, but the difference was what we got out of it," Mittie said. "In the last game against (Tulsa), we rebounded well but got nothing out of it. (Saturday) we were able to get some second-chance points, and that really helped us." TCU led 26-23 with three minutes remaining in the first half. A 10-2 burst by the Lady Frogs opened up an 11-point lead from which Tulsa never recovered. "I thought the key was that last run (in the first half)," Mittie said. "We got the lead to 11, and even though they got it down to eight, it was still nice going into halftime with an eight-point cushion." The Lady Frogs were paced on offense by junior guard Jill Sutton and her season-high 21 points. She added seven rebounds and six assists. Junior forward Janice Thomas was one rebound short of her sixth double-double of the season. She finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. "Janice (Thomas) has played very well in conference," Mittie said. "She has become more active and more comfortable with the style of play and what we are trying to do." Junior guard Diamond Jackson chipped in 11 points. The Lady Horned Frogs hit 68 percent of their shots while Tulsa hit 31 percent. The Golden Hurricane never got within 11 points in the second half. The 22-point final margin was the Lady Horned Frogs' largest lead of the game. Osceola and junior forward Denise Wagner combined to score 34 of Tulsa's 58 total points. Wagner and Osceola were 13 for 29 from the field, while the rest of the Golden Hurricane was seven for 24. "This game was huge for our confidence," Sutton said. "We talked about it going in that we needed a win. We just needed to feel a win." The Lady Horned Frogs are on the road for the next two games starting with a Thursday game at Hawaii and concluding Saturday at San Jose State.
Danny Horne
By Rusty Simmons staff reporter Down by one run with two outs and the bases loaded in the 11th inning, junior left fielder Rudy Rivera stepped into the batter's box. On the first pitch of the at bat, Southwest Texas' Eric Johnson uncorked a wild pitch allowing junior designated hitter Josh Anderson to score from third base. Anderson's 90-foot dash from third base to home tied game two of the three game series at 6-6. With a tie score, two outs and runners on first and third, Rivera again took his place in the batter's box. On the fifth pitch of the at bat, Rivera grounded out to second base to end the inning. Junior Mickey Scala, who represented the game-winning run, was left stranded on third base, 90 feet away.
Junior catcher/outfielder Jason Price said the weekend's emotional changes were good for the team. "I think the experiences this weekend will help this team a lot," he said. "It showed us that we need to keep the intensity up whether we play 16 or 28 innings. We got kind of down toward the end of the weekend and it showed." In the series finale, five Frog pitchers served up 17 hits in the loss on Sunday. But sophomore third baseman Erick Macha said the Frogs' defense should take some of the blame. "Our defense hurt us," he said. "It is hard the first few games when you are trying to get back to game speed." TCU fell behind 7-0 in the fifth inning of the third game but scored five runs over the next three innings. Macha said the team began to make adjustments to seeing live pitching again. The Frogs never closed the lead as Southwest Texas answered with eight runs in the same span. Senior first baseman Shaun Wooley and junior right fielder Tom Bates each drove in two runs in a losing effort. The momentum of game two shifted back and forth between TCU and Southwest Texas Saturday. Southwest Texas jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning, and the Frogs answered back with five in the bottom of the fifth inning, including a solo home run by freshman shortstop Ramon Moses in his first collegiate at bat. Moses is one of nine TCU players to receive playing time this weekend in his first year in a Frogs' uniform. Macha said despite Moses' early successes, all of the Frogs' young players will see the advantage of experience as the season goes on. "Experience is a tremendous help," he said. "With a lot of new guys on the team, it is just going to take time to start playing together." Southwest Texas cut the lead to one in the fourth inning. TCU tried to answer back in its half of the inning. With one out, Macha hit a fly out to center field. Moses tried to tag up and score from third, but he was called out at the plate. Southwest Texas took its first lead of the game in the top of the 11th, but Anderson knotted the score when he scored from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning. The game was suspended due to darkness, and in the 14th inning played Sunday, Southwest Texas won on three unearned runs off junior pitcher Chad Durham. In the series opener, TCU managed to win despite being out hit and making three errors. Macha said the win is a testament to pitchers' performances. "The pitchers managed to get people out at key moments in the game even though we weren't helping them on defense," he said. The Frogs took advantage of their scoring opportunities. Durham came on to pitch in the seventh inning and struck out the side to end the game. Anderson, Price and junior center fielder Marshall Wilson each had a pair of RBIs. The two losses to end the series left head coach Lance Brown one win shy of 400 on his career. Macha said the team was disappointed Brown did not get his 400th win this weekend. "We wanted to get coach Brown that win," he said. "We'll go out and get it for him (today against Texas-Arlington)." The Frogs play UTA today at 2:05 p.m. at the TCU Baseball Diamond.
Rusty Simmons |
The Frogs went on to lose games two and three to the
Bobcats this weekend at the TCU Baseball Diamond. TCU won the first game
of the series 6-3, but lost the final two games, 9-6 and 15-5. | The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |