TCU hosts Utah in key MWC matchup Saturday
1/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
Game #19
TCU (10-8; 3-1 MWC) vs. Utah (15-3; 4-0 MWC)
Fort Worth, Texas -- Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (7,021)
Saturday, Jan. 26 -- 2 p.m. CST
Radio: 88.7 KTCU-FM, gofrogs.com
Internet: Live Radio via KTCU; Live Video Stream and Statistics via All-Access
FORT WORTH--TCU returns to the court following a week-long hiatus when it plays host to Utah Saturday in a clash featuring two of the top three teams in the Mountain West Conference. Tip-off at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Both squads enter Saturday's contest riding hot streaks while hoping to keep pace with league-leading Wyoming in the conference race. TCU, which last played during a Jan. 19 win over Colorado State, has won five of its last six games, while Utah owns an 11-game winning streak. The Utes are receiving votes in both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches and AP Polls released this week.
The Frogs, who trail in the all-time series with a 4-5 record, will look to avenge an MWC-Tournament-opening loss to the Utes sufferred last season by a 68-67 count. The teams split their regular season matchups a year ago, with each squad winning at home.
Saturday's game can be heard live on the radio in the Metroplex on 88.7 KTCU-FM with Jeff Williams (play-by-play) calling the action. All games this season, home and away, will be broadcast live on KTCU. Live statistics and free video stream will be available on GoFrogs.com.
All members of the Junior Frogs Club will receive free admission to Saturday's game by showing their Junior Frogs Club pass. Senior guard Helen Roden is scheduled to sign autographs for fans following the game on the east side of the DMC concourse.
Frog Quick Notes
-TCU owns an all-time record of 16-2 in MWC home games at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
-The Frog bench has outscored the opponent bench in 13 of 18 games for an average of 5.8 ppg.
-The Frogs have won the turnover battle in 14 of 18 games, and only Texas A&M has committed fewer turnovers than the Frogs in a contest this season.
-TCU leads the MWC in scoring (71.2 ppg), rebounds (39.1), offensive boards (15.22 pg) and turnover margin (+5.44) and ranks second in steals (10.67 pg).
-Adrianne Ross is the only player among the MWC's top-6 individuals in scoring (sixth), assists (fifth) and steals (fifth).
-Ross is only 15 points shy of reaching the 1,500-point mark for her career.
-Ross needs only four field goals to move past Janice Dziuk (545) into second on TCU's career list.
-Ross next appearance will tie her for fifth place on TCU's career games played list with Jill Sutton (119).
-Emily Carter leads the MWC in free-throw percentage (.921).
-Carter has scored in double figures in six of TCU's last 12 games.
-Helena Sverrisdottir is one of only two freshmen to appear in the MWC statistical rankings for assists (11th), rebounds (18th) and scoring (26th).
-The senior class of Butler-Rayford, Knight, Jenna Lohse, Helen Roden and Adrianne Ross have combined for 3,388 points, 1,644 rebounds, 961 assists and 660 steals during their careers.
Scouting Utah (15-3; 4-0 MWC)
Utah has followed up an NCAA Tournament berth to end last season with a fast early start to 2007-08. The Utes put together an 11-3 non-conference record while recording wins over teams the likes of Nebraska, Minnesota and Long Beach State. Their only losses came at the hands of Stanford, Marist and USC. The program, which currently boasts an 11-game winning streak, has defeated Air Force, San Diego State, BYU and New Mexico during league play.
The Utes sit atop the MWC rankings in multiple categories, including scoring margin (+14.7 ppg), field-goal percentage (.483), field-goal percentage defense (.350), 3-point percentage (.387) and free-throw percentage (.731). The squad ranked fourth among Division I teams in field-goal percentage entering the week.
Senior point guard Leilani Mitchell (17.8) and junior guard Morgan Warburton (17.5) provide Utah with a solid 1-2 offensive punch, as the two rank second and third, respectively, among all MWC players for scoring. Mitchell, who also leads the conference with a 6.83 assists-per-game average, previously earned honorable-mention All-America honors before transferring from Idaho. Sophomore forward Kalee Whipple has posted a team-leading rebounding average of 6.5 per game.
Shooting Picks up in MWC Play
TCU, which struggled to find its 3-point shooting touch for much of the non-conference season, has picked up its game since the start of its Mountain West Conference schedule. The Frogs own a 3-point field-goal percentage of .393 in league games only compared to their .297 mark in non-conference tilts. TCU trails only New Mexico (.514) in 3-point shooting during league games only after finishing the non-conference season ranked eighth in the category.
Home Cooking
Much of TCU's success in Mountain West Conference play has been its ability to defend the home court. The Frogs are 16-2 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in their two-plus seasons in the league. The home record leads all MWC teams dating back to the period when TCU joined the league.
TCU is 29-3 in its last 32 games overall held at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The squad set a school record in 2007-08 with 15 home wins. The previous record was 14 wins during the 2003-04 season. TCU also set a school record with a 93.7 percent winning percentage at home by winning 15 of 16 home games, including a school-record 14 straight games to open the season.
Counting the 2005-06 season, TCU put together a 19-game home win streak, which was the sixth longest in the nation, prior to dropping a 61-50 decision to Wyoming on Feb. 22. The Lady Frogs own a 112-26 (.812) home record since Jeff Mittie's arrival on campus prior to the 1999-200 season. The Frogs own an 8-2 home record this season, including a 2-0 MWC mark.
