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Women’s
basketball ends season at banquet The women’s basketball team had plenty to celebrate Thursday at its postseason banquet at the River Crest Country Club Ballroom despite the fact that it was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in March. After recording their best season in school history, the Frogs’ season became the year of firsts. With an overall record of 25-8, the Frogs had their first 20-win season. The Frogs also won their first Western Athletic Conference regular season tile and first WAC Championship. But their season did not end there as they received their first bid to the NCAA Tournament. As the 11th seed in the tournament, they upset their first-round opponent Penn State. TCU was ousted from the tournament by Louisiana Tech, which went on to the Final Four.
Head coach Jeff Mittie said this year’s Frogs will be a tough act to follow. “This team has left a great mark on TCU women’s basketball on and off the court,” Mittie said. “We will lose a very special group.” Thursday was also a first of sorts as over 200 people attended the banquet, the largest turnout ever. “Coming here, I didn’t know how emotional it would be,” senior guard Amy Porter said. “It was a great evening. aving the fans here that supported us all year long made this evening that much more special.” Besides celebrating the Frogs’ season, six athletes were honored with awards. Forward Tiffany Evans was named the Freshman of the Year. Evans averaged 20.3 minutes a game in the 32 games she played. She also grabbed 172 rebounds for the season, averaging 5.4 a game. With her 257 rebounds and 9.3 points a game, senior forward Janice Thomas was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Thomas led the team in rebounds by almost 100. Junior forward Kati Safaritova, who led the team in scoring with 12.2 points a game, was named Offensive Player of the Year, and senior guard Jill Sutton was named as the winner of the Janice Dzuik Award. The award is named for TCU’s all-time leading scorer. Sutton currently holds second place with 1,300 career points. Junior forward Quinn Tedder won the Academic Award with a 4.0 GPA for the second year in a row. Junior forward Tricia Payne, who was named the Player of the Year, said the honor meant a lot to her. “It was special to be recognized, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Payne said. “I was tearing up a couple of times. I can’t believe it’s over, and the seniors are going to be gone. They meant so much to me. I thought I had played with them forever. “But it was a perfect ending to a perfect season. This evening topped it off for us.” The evening ended with the team’s highlight video. The final frame read “Final Four — San Antonio 2002.” “You can dream a little can’t you?” Mittie asked. Kelly
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