TCU Women's Hoops Season Outlook: Part I
11/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 4, 2009
The start of the TCU women's basketball team's 2009-10 season is only a week away with the squad's Nov. 11 exhibition vs. Cameron University on the horizon. GoFrogs.com will take a closer look at the upcoming season over the next three days, beginning with Wednesday's season outlook.
NEW SEASON, EXPERIENCED TEAM
Eight letterwinners who accounted for all but three starts from a season ago return for the TCU women's basketball team in 2009-10. Among the returnees are three players who earned All-Mountain West Conference honors as underclassmen in 2008-09--junior Helena Sverrisdottir (first team), senior TK LaFleur (second team; MWC Newcomer of the Year) and junior Emily Carter (second team). Former Lady Frog Michaela Younger (three starts at center) was the only player with starting experience lost.
Overall, TCU returns 91.1 percent of scoring (top five scorers), 79.1 percent of rebounding (top seven players) and 92.9 percent of its assist totals (top six players) from a year ago.
TCU RECEIVES VOTES IN NATIONAL PRESEASON POLLS
TCU appeared among those teams receiving votes in the recent release of both the Associated Press Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today preseason polls. The Lady Frogs have crack the top-25 in both sets of ratings at one point in six of the last eight seasons.
TCU earned the No. 38 spot in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll with 12 votes, while the squad is tied for 44th in the AP poll with seven votes. The Frogs reached high positions last season of No. 19 in the AP poll and No. 22 in the coaches poll.
FROGS' STRENGTHS RANK AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
One area to look at when examining TCU's success in 2008-09 was the four statistical categories for which the squad ranked among the nation's top-13 teams: free-throw percentage (77.9 percent; No. 9), fewest turnovers (13.7 tpg; No. 12), 3-point field-goal percentage (36.7 percent; No. 13) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (27.8 percent; No. 13). The Frogs led the Mountain West Conference in all but one of those categories (fewest turnovers; No. 2), in addition to scoring offense (69.2 ppg; No. 47 nationally).
TCU broke team records for free-throw percentage and fewest turnovers per game last season. The team's free-throw percentage was far higher than the previous school record of 72.6 percent set in 1999-00, while its turnover average easily broke the mark of 16.0 per game recorded in 2006-07. In addition to the two records, TCU also recorded the No. 4 totals in school history in 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made (207).
SVERRISDOTTIR DOES IT ALL FOR LADY FROGS
Despite featuring a lineup with many new faces last season, one returning player in particular took the reigns of the team and led it through the season. Helena Sverrisdottir joined former Lady Frog Natasha Lacy (2005-06) as the only TCU players to lead their teams in scoring (15.8 ppg), rebounding (7.4 rpg) and assists (4.8 apg) while starting every game at point guard. She was the only player in the MWC to rank among the league's top-7 players in the following four major statistical categories: assists (4.8 apg; No. 2), scoring (15.8 ppg; No. 4), rebounding (7.4 rpg; No. 6) and steals (1.7; No. 7).
Sverrisdottir, who is entering only her junior season, ranks among the nation's leading returners in scoring and assists for players who were sophomores or freshmen in 2008-09. She is the nation's No. 18 returning sophomore or freshman scorer while ranking 24th in assists for the same group.
LAFLEUR, CARTER, SVERRISDOTTIR LEAD STRONG TCU 3-POINT THREAT
TK LaFleur helped make TCU one of the nation's most dangerous teams from 3-point range in 2008-09, as she led the MWC in 3-point field-goal percentage with a mark of 39.8 percent, which ranks 27th nationally for returning players this season. Overall, TCU had three of the league's top-8 players in terms of 3-point shooting. Helena Sverrisdottir was fourth at 37.6 percent, while Emily Carter ranked No. 8 (36.9). Carter sizzled in league play, leading the MWC with a mark of 42.4 percent in 16 games.
LaFleur and Carter also each finished among the conference's top 10 in 3-pointers made with averages of 2.06 (sixth) and 1.55 (10th) per game, respectively.
FOUR PLAYERS IN REACH OF 1,000 CAREER POINTS
TCU has four players on its roster who enter the season with the capabilities of reaching the 1,000-career point mark. Most likely to reach the milestone this season are Helena Sverrisdottir (818 points) and TK LaFleur (803 points). Both Eboni Mangum (546 points) and Emily Carter (530 points) could also reach the 1,000-point mark with big seasons. Mangum returns to the floor after missing the final half of last season due to surgery to repair a torn ACL in her right knee suffered two weeks prior to the season opener.
FROGS ADD FOUR FRESHMEN TO MIX
Four new faces dot TCU's 2009-10 roster, and the Frog coaching staff believes each can make an impact as early as this season. Among the group are three local products in Hannah Christian (Aledo, Texas/Aledo HS), Starr Crawford (Arlington, Texas/Mansfield Summit HS) and DeLisa Gross (Waco, Texas/Waco Midway HS), while Ida Tryggedsson (Aarhus, Denmark/Marselisborg Gymnasium) joins the Lady Frogs from overseas.
Each of the four freshmen bring accomplished resumes with them from either the prep or club levels. Crawford was named DFW Metroplex Player of the Year last spring by several media outlets after leading Mansfield Summit to the Texas 4A state title, while Gross helped Waco Midway win the Texas 5A state crown. Christian started all four years for Aledo, a Texas 4A school, and she totaled 2,537 career points. Tryggedsson has been one of the top players in her country and has spent several years as a member of the Danish National Team.
THIRTEEN GAMES VS. 2008-09 POSTSEASON QUALIFIERS ON TAP
TCU' schedule features 13 games against 10 different teams that advanced to postseason play last season. No fewer than eight of those contests will be played against six teams that reached the NCAA Touranment. Overall, TCU will play 17 regular-season games against teams that finished in the top-112 in the NCAA's final RPI rankings.
Opponents that reached the NCAA Tournament include: Fresno State, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Xavier (Junkanoo Jam possible second-round matchup), Texas A&M, Utah and San Diego State. Other teams on TCU's schedule that played in the Women's NIT include: Kansas (Junkanoo Jam possible second-round matchup), New Mexico, SMU and UT Arlington.
Oklahoma (No. 4), Texas A&M (No. 7) and Xavier (No. 25) each appeared in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll following the conclusion of the season.
CONTINUED MWC SUCCESS
TCU finished in third place in the Mountain West Conference in 2008-09 with a 12-4 record, which was only one game behind league champions Utah and San Diego State. The Frogs split the season series with both the Utes and Aztecs.
The successful showing in conference play helped TCU become the only league squad to finish in third place or better in each of the past four seasons. The Frogs are also the only team with at least 11 wins each season during that period, which dates back to the program's first season since joining the league from Conference USA.
HOME SWEET HOME AT THE DMC
Much of TCU's success over the past few years can be directly related to its ability to defend the home court. The Lady Frogs are 21-3 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in their three seasons in the MWC, which is tied for the lead among all MWC teams during the period. TCU is 35-4 in its last 39 games overall held at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The squad's 15-3 record at the DMC in 2008-09 tied the 2006-07 squad for most home wins in school history.
TCU's 15-1 home record in 2006-07 was good for a program-record 93.7 percent winning percentage. The Frogs won 14 straight games to open the season. Counting the 2005-06 campaign, 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, 2007. The Lady Frogs own a 108-24 (.818) home record since Jeff Mittie's arrival on campus prior to the 1999-200 season.
Players Mentioned
