Women's Basketball Takes On Arkansas Saturday
12/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2001
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Playing 'Em Close
* After not playing in a game decided by fewer than 10 points in their first eight games, TCU has now been involved in a pair of close contests in back-to-back games. The Lady Frogs defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 62-56 on Dec. 18 and lost to BYU 74-71 on Dec. 22. Both games were at home.
Great Starts
* A TCU victory would put the Frogs' record at 8-3, matching the second-best start in school history. TCU has only started a season 9-2 one time in school history. The 1997-98 squad opened with an 9-2 mark before finishing with a 13-15 record. TCU has begun a season 8-3 twice (1987-88 and 1998-99). Last year's NCAA Tournament team was 7-4 through 11 games.
You Want Competition?
* Arkansas is the fifth 2001 NCAA Tournament participant that TCU has played this season. The Frogs are 2-2 against NCAA tourney foes so far, with victories over Southwest Missouri State and Rutgers and losses to Oklahoma and Oregon.
Block You Very Much
* TCU has recorded a C-USA-record 74 blocked shots in the first 10 games of the season (7.4 per game), including a school-best 15 against Prairie View A&M. Last year, TCU set a school record with 136 blocks on the season (4.1 per contest).
Building Blocks
* Sandora Irvin leads the team with 32 blocked shots and is just 10 blocks away from breaking the single-season school record (41 by Tiffany Evans in 2000-01).
Tiffany Tops Charts
* Speaking of Tiffany Evans, the sophomore forward became the school's all-time blocked shot leader on Dec. 22 with her 56th career swat. She broke the record held by former Frogs Janice Thomas and Amy Bumsted (55). It took her just 42 games to become the record holder.
Presiding on The Bench
* TCU's bench has outscored the opposing bench in eight of 10 games this season. For the year, the Lady Frog bench has nearly doubled the opposing bench's production (315-161).
Under Fifty is Nifty
* Just half of TCU's 10 opponents have scored more than 50 points against TCU this season. In addition, just five teams have shot 33 percent or better from the field against the Frogs.
Taking the Show Donwtown
* TCU is 1-1 all-time playing at the Fort Worth Convention Center. Most recently, TCU defeated Southwest Missouri State 77-44 on Dec. 15, 2001. The Frogs lost the first-ever Fort Worth Classic game by a 70-49 count to Texas on Dec. 28, 2000.
Start Me Up
* Candace Baldwin, Tiffany Evans, Ebony Shaw and Sandora Irvin each made their first career start against Sam Houston, while Ashanti Nix had the first of her career at Oregon, Grace Gantt made her debut against Prairie View and Niki Newton opened the Texas A&M-C.C. game. Heading into the season, only Kati Safaritova (32 starts) had started at TCU.
That's Common Knowledge
* TCU and Arkansas have faced one common opponent thus far this season. The Lady Frogs dismantled Southwest Missouri State 77-44 on Dec. 15, while the Razorbacks fell to the Bears 64-48 in Springfield, Mo.
The Magic Number
* TCU is 6-1 when scoring at least 70 points this season and 1-2 when falling short of the mark. In Coach Mittie's three seasons as head coach, the Frogs are 37-6 (.860) when reaching the 70-point plateau and 11-19 (.367) when failing to do so. In addition, Mittie's TCU teams are 45-6 (.882) when holding opponents under 70 points and 3-19 (.136) when allowing at least 70.
It Was Re-Bound to Happen Sometime
* TCU has been outrebounded just twice this season, by Oklahoma (44-41) and BYU (38-32). TCU is 7-1 when winning the battle of the boards and 0-2 when being outrebounded. On the season, TCU holds a whopping 458-362 advantage on the glass (9.6 per game).
"Sand" Rules the Castle
* Sandora Irvin, the first high school All-American to ever play for the Lady Frogs, has been impressive in her first 10 collegiate outings. She has six double-doubles on the season and leads the team in scoring (12.7 ppg), rebounding (11.3) and blocked shots (3.2). She has topped the club in blocked shots every game and in rebounding in all but two contests. Through Dec. 17, Sandora Irvin ranked tied for fourth nationally in rebounds per game and seventh in blocks per game.
Sa-Far, So Good
* Senior Kati Safaritova, last year's top scorer, has averaged 14.5 points per game over the last three contests after scoring just 5.7 per game in the three previous games. She surpassed the 500-point mark for her two-year TCU career on Dec. 18 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Making Her Point
* TCU senior Ashanti Nix is leading the team in minutes (28.8), assists (3.4) and steals (2.9). She came off the bench in all 33 games last year and the first two games of this season, but has started the last eight games at point guard.
