TCU
Louisiana-Monroe
LaFleur, Sverrisdottir Lead TCU Women Past ULM
12/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2009
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
FORT WORTH—Senior guard TK LaFleur scored a season-high 19 points and junior guard Helena Sverrisdottir added 17 during a 65-44 TCU victory over visiting ULM Tuesday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The win marked the 11th straight for the Frogs on their home court dating back to last season.
TCU improved to 5-2 with the win, while ULM dropped to 4-3.
LaFleur, an All-Mountain West Conference Second Team selection a season ago, shook herself out of a three-game slump that featured a total of eight points from the Frog senior. She went 7-of-12 from the field Tuesday, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and tied freshman teammate Starr Crawford for the team's high-scoring game this season. Lafleur scored 14 of TCU's 32 points in the first half, helping the squad built an 11-point edge at intermission.
Sverrisdottir also broke out of a minor funk after having totaled only nine points over her previous two outings. Her 17 points against the Warhawks marked a season best, as she shot 6-of-11 from the field. Sverrisdottir added eight rebounds and a team-high four steals.
Crawford continued her dominance on the glass for TCU, reaching double figures in rebounds for the fifth time in seven games with 10 boards.
Guard Jesse Carrier led ULM with 10 points, while fellow guard Priscilla Mbiandja had nine rebounds.
Both teams got off to slow starts, especially the Warhawks, who went 0-for-12 the floor before Carrier hit a 3-pointer for the squad's first field goal more than six-and-a-half minutes into the contest. The Warhawks then followed by missing their next six shots.
TCU's offense also was stagnant until LaFleur helped the squad break out midway through he first half. LaFleur scored each of her 14 first-half points in the period's final 10 minutes, including seven straight in a 2:15 stretch that gave the Frogs a 29-12 edge with 3:58 remaining.
ULM hung tough, responding with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to single digits, 29-21, but forward Chantelle John drilled a big 3-pointer from the top of the key with only three seconds left to put TCU back up by 11 entering the locker room, 32-21.
The Frogs outshot the Warhawks by a 45.8 to 24.2 percent margin in the opening period.
TCU continued to pull away in the second half by scoring 19 of the period's opening 28 points. LaFleur's final 3-pointer with 10:26 remaining pushed the Frog advantage past 20 for the first time at 51-30, and the lead reached a high of 24 points, 60-36, on a Crawford free throw at the 4:05 mark.
The Frogs held the Warhawks to only 23.0 percent shooting for the game, including a mark of 21.4 percent in the second half. TCU also dominated the boards to the tune of a 49-39 edge. The squad has now won the rebounding battle in five of its seven games, compared to only six times all of last season.
TCU returns to the road for a Sunday matchup at perennial NCAA Tournament qualifier NC State. Tip-off from Raleigh, N.C., is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
Players Mentioned
