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Frogs
lose to Miners Texas El-Paso’s Heidi Walker scored 22 points as the Miners defeated the Frogs, 79-76, Wednesday night at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso. TCU battled back from a 19-point deficit with 9:35 remaining, but the Frogs couldn’t complete the comeback as shots by freshman forward Tiffany Evans and senior guard Amy Porter missed in the waning six seconds.
“I’m proud of the last 10 minutes, but by the looks of it, I’m disappointed in the first 30 minutes,” head coach Jeff Mittie said on KTCU, 88.7-FM. “We’re a good basketball team, but this is evidence that we weren’t ready to play.”
The loss was the first time this season that TCU, which averages
71.5 points a game, scored 70 or more points and didn’t win. After trailing by only four points at halftime, the Frogs struggled in the opening minutes of the second half. The Miners achieved their biggest lead, 60-41, with just less than 10 minutes remaining. TCU then went on a 38-16 run, cutting the lead to one point. Senior guard Jill Sutton missed a baseline shot, which would have given the Frogs their only second-half lead, with less than 10 seconds remaining. Two Miner free throws gave UTEP a three-point lead with 6.9 seconds left in the game. Evans’ three-point attempt ricocheted to Porter, who missed a three pointer as the buzzer sounded. “The last play was typical of the whole night,” Mittie said. “We didn’t run the right play, and we’re not the type of team that can not execute and be successful.”
Despite the loss, TCU (19-6, 11-2 Western Athletic Conference) remains
in first play in the conference. But the Frogs only have a one-game
lead on second-place Hawaii. The Rainbows (19-5, 10-3) play TCU
at 2 p.m. Sunday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. |
