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Payne
leads Frogs in Okla. Entering the final round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, the TCU women’s basketball team was trying to do something the men’s team was unable to accomplish in its first round of the WAC Tournament. Beat a team from Hawaii. But with the help of junior forward Tricia Payne, the Frogs were able to do just that as they won their first WAC Tournament with a 66-58 victory against Hawaii Saturday at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla. After
the first two rounds of the tournament, Payne, who averaged 10.6
points a game in the regular season, had only 13 points. Payne, who grew up 2 1/2 hours from Tulsa in Duncan, Okla., said playing the tournament in Oklahoma made it extra special. “It’s always fun to come back to Oklahoma,” Payne said. “My high school team was playing in State up here a couple of days ago, so they all came to watch me play. It’s always fun to come back and see family and friends.” Senior guard Jill Sutton said Payne was a key factor in the team’s final-round victory. “She always plays good in Oklahoma,” Sutton said. The Frogs led by as many as 19 points with just more than eight minutes remaining, but Sutton said TCU never got complacent. “We knew the whole time that Hawaii was not going to give up,” Sutton said. “They were going to keep pushing because they had nothing to lose. I think we got a little tight, but we were all confident that we could pull it out.” In the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s game, Payne scored 11 points which was just seven points short of Hawaii’s first- half total. The Wahine shot just 15.2 percent from the field on 5-of-33 shooting in the first half compared to TCU which made 36.8 percent (14-of-38) of its shots. Even though Payne was not playing her best in the first two rounds, she said she wasn’t worried. “I knew I had to get some points for our team,” Payne said. “I felt more comfortable shooting the ball (Saturday). I didn’t play well (Friday), but it’s not always your day. Other people stepped up the day before.” In the opening round, a 74-53 victory against San Jose State, senior forward Janice Thomas and senior guard Amy Porter each led the Frogs with 10 points. Junior forward Kati Safaritova scored a team-high 18 points in the Frogs 76-58 victory against Rice in the second round. After Saturday’s victory, the Frogs celebrated with an awards presentation and by cutting down the nets. The scene in Tulsa that afternoon was similar to that of the Frogs last regular season game at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum when they celebrated the regular season title. Sutton said the team is growing accustomed to these types of celebrations. “I like this,” Sutton said. “We could get used to this.”
Kelly Morris |