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Women’s
hoops shatters expectations One year ago, the TCU women’s basketball team ended its season in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. After recording its best season this year, the Frogs recently ended their season in the second round of another tournament — the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Jeff Mittie said it is that fact that has made this year a dream season. “It was a heck of a year and a heck of a ride,” Mittie said. “At the start of the year, we had goals of winning the WAC championship and getting to the NCAA Tournament, and I thought we could obtain those goals. I would not have stretched it to 25 wins, however.” With an overall record of 25-8, the Frogs became the winningest team in the program’s history, breaking the previous record for wins (16) tied last season. With a conference record of 13-3, the Frogs won their first WAC title. Along the way, the team ran off an 11-game winning streak en route to capturing its first WAC Tournament title. As the Frogs continued to win into March, Mittie said the team’s accomplishments far exceeded his expectations. “When the team got to 22, 23 and 24 wins, I didn’t know what the ceiling for this team was,” Mittie said. “I thought we were outside of the box here in terms of the expectations I had for this team. I was afraid to put a ceiling on them.” In the first round of the NCAA Tournament March 17, the 11th-seeded Frogs upset sixth-seeded Penn State, 77-75. The Frogs were led by junior forward Kati Safaritova, who scored 21 points. “We were the surprise team on (March 17), and nobody expected us to be here,” Mittie said March 19 after the Frogs loss against Louisiana Tech. “Nobody expected us to get to (the NCAA Tournament), let alone this game. I couldn’t be prouder of this team.” In the second round, the Frogs were unable to get past the third-seeded Lady Techsters, losing 80-59 in front of 6,813 fans in Ruston, La. Senior guard Jill Sutton said the team knew going to the NCAA Tournament was an attainable goal. “A loss is always disappointing, but it’s been an awesome year,” Sutton said. “Most of us will probably look back to our win against Penn State and remember that. It was the greatest feeling that I’ve had in a long time. From day one, when we were in preseason workouts, it was our goal to get to the NCAA Tournament. We had a chart up in the locker room of our goals and making the NCAA Tournament was at the top of it.” Scoring 12 points in the team’s second-round loss, Sutton pushed her career point total to 1,300 — three points shy of setting a school scoring record. Even though the loss was the last game for seniors Sutton, Amy Porter, Sally Spencer, Janice Thomas and Karen Clayton, junior forward Tricia Payne said that she expects next year’s team to accomplish many of the same things as this year’s squad. “All of our freshmen, juniors and new players are great, great players,” Payne said. “They contributed big time on this team this year, and with the help of our returning players and our good recruiting class, I hope to see us back in the NCAA Tournament next year. I expect that to be one of our top goals and maybe go further in the tournament next season.” Kelly
Morris |
