Lady Frogs end regular season with two wins
By Drew Irwin
Skiff Staff

In the final weekend of the regular season, TCU (15-13, 8-6 Conference USA) showed that it was not going to overlook its final two games.

The Lady Frogs won the home games to finish fifth in the conference.

“We knew we had to go into the conference tournament with a win,” junior guard Ebony Shaw said.

Friday, TCU beat Alabama-Birmingham (8-19, 4-10 C-USA) 74-49, giving the Blazers their seventh straight loss. The win ensured that the Lady Frogs controlled their destiny to grab the fifth seed in this week’s C-USA tournament, which begins Thursday in Memphis, Tenn.

TCU clinched that spot Sunday with a 74-57 win over South Florida (7-20, 2-12 C-USA).

In TCU’s win Friday, sophomore forward Sandora Irvin came of the bench with a team-leading 14 points and 13 rebounds. It was her 10th double-double of the season, making her the fourth player in C-USA to get 10 or more double-doubles.

Friday’s win also was a special one for head coach Jeff Mittie. It was his 79th victory as Lady Frogs head coach, making him the school’s all-time leader in wins.

On Sunday, Irvin had another double-double (her 11th) with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Shaw came off the bench with 15 points.

“I think both Irvin and Shaw have raised their game a notch,” Mittie said. “And I liked the way Irvin played in the second half.”

Despite Irvin’s effort, TCU was out-rebounded 41-37 by a much smaller Bulls’ team.
However, Mittie said not to take much from those numbers.

“Stats don’t always tell the right story,” Mittie said. “But we do need to continue to get better on our rebounds. We have to address that in practice this week.”

Sunday marked the final TCU home game for seniors Tricia Payne, Candace Baldwin and Grace Gantt. The team honored the players’ achievements in a post-game ceremony.

Payne left the game six minutes into the second half with a knee injury, but battled back into the game a few minutes later.

“I asked her if she wanted to go back in, and she said yes,” Mittie said. “I think she’d do anything to get back in there for her last home game.”

TCU’s first round opponent in the C-USA tournament will be East Carolina.

r.a.irwin@tcu.edu