Lady Frogs advance to second round of C-USA Tournament
By Drew Irwin
Skiff Staff

For most of Thursday night’s Conference USA Tournament game, it appeared the women’s basketball team had left its offense at home.

Despite a tough first half and poor shooting from the field, TCU was able to escape the first round with a 54-44 win over East Carolina in Memphis, Tenn.

“We had some players that just struggled (Thursday night),” head coach Jeff Mittie said in a postgame radio interview. “It looked like the first game rather than the 29th game of the year.”

The Lady Frogs scored only 20 first half points and made only 29 percent of their shots. Fortunately for TCU, East Carolina only shot 23 percent from the field giving the Lady Frogs a 20-17 halftime lead. Both teams shot better in the second half, but TCU finished the game with its second-lowest point total of the season.

“You can go down the list and we had some players have some really rough nights,” Mittie said. “We’re going to have to play better (today), or we’ll be back in Fort Worth soon.”

Sophomore forward Sandora Irvin led the Lady Frogs with 10 points off the bench. Irvin also had eight rebounds in her first game since being named C-USA’s Defensive Player of the Year. Senior forward Grace Gantt also came off the bench to score nine points.

“Grace played well,” Mittie said. “I thought that she really gave us a lift.”

With the win, TCU advanced to play Tulane in the second round of the C-USA Tournament 8 p.m. today. Last year, Tulane knocked the Lady Frogs out of the C-USA tournament in the second round.

The Green Wave have won three straight overall against TCU. As the fourth seed, Tulane received a first-round bye and will play its first game in the tournament today.

“(Tulane) obviously has the advantage of preparing for this game,” Mittie said. “But I also think it’s tough to sit and be anxious to play.”

Mittie said the team is excited at the chance to play Tulane, but he said he knows the players will have to play better if they are going to win today.

“We’re going to have to play better than we did (Thursday),” Mittie said. “We’ll have to play much tougher; we weren’t very physical.”

In the last meeting between TCU and the Green Wave, Tulane beat the Lady Frogs, 74-65. Although the Green Wave led by as many as 27, TCU battled back to within five points.

Mittie said the team would have its hands full this time.

“We’ll have a tough game (today),” Mittie said. “Tulane has a very good inside game, and they shot well against us last time.”

The winner of today’s game will advance to play the winner of the Marquette and conference-champion Charlotte game Saturday.

r.a.irwin@tcu.edu