TCU
UNLV
TCU Keeps Hold of MWC Lead with Win over UNLV
2/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2010
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Postgame Press Conference 
| Highlights
FORT WORTH--Junior guard Emily Carter led a group of four Lady Frogs in double figures with a career-high 25 points Tuesday, as TCU returned to the win column with a 79-64 home victory over UNLV at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The performance helped TCU reach the 20-win plateau for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.
The victory, which extended the Frogs' school-record home winning streak to 21 games, kept the squad on pace to challenge for its first Mountain West Conference regular-season championship. With three games remaining, TCU (20-9; 10-3 MWC) will hold at least a tie for first place with BYU entering the season's final stretch. The Cougars next play at San Diego State Wednesday night.
Junior guard Emily Carter rebounded from her lowest scoring output of the season in last week's loss at San Diego State by matching her career scoring high Tuesday. She went 9-of-15 from the field and drilled a season-best five 3-pointers on 10 attempts. Her 25 points matched the career high she set two weeks ago in TCU's 105-96 four-overtime win at Utah.
Fellow junior guard/forward Helena Sverrisdottir served as the fire behind a TCU offense that shot a season-best 53.3 percent from the field for the game while dishing out 23 assists. She again fell just short of a triple-double with 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Sverrisdottir is averaging 7.3 assists per contest over her last four outings, including consecutive performances of nine helpers.
Also reaching double figures for TCU were freshman forward Starr Crawford, who totaled 16 points and eight boards, and senior guard TK LaFleur, who added 11 points while appearing in the starting lineup for the first time since the team's Nov. 27 loss to Minnesota in the Bahamas.
Guards Mia Bell and Erica Helms paced UNLV's offensive attack with respective totals of 13 and 12 points. UNLV shot only 35.9 percent from the field for the game despite draining nine 3-pointers against the Frogs. The squad also turned the ball over 24 times against only 14 assists.
Mistakes plagued both teams for much of the first half until a late run gave the Frogs a sizeable lead at the break. TCU was successful from the field, shooting 60.7 percent for the period, but 12 first-half turnovers kept UNLV in the game early. The Rebels had just as much trouble taking care of the ball, committing 16 turnovers of their own in the period.
UNLV managed to hang around and even led by a point with just over five minutes remaining in the first half until the Frogs took control for the remainder of the period. TCU went on a 17-4 run to conclude the period that included 3-pointers by Sverrisdottir and Carter to take a 43-31 advantage to the locker room.
The Frogs' run continued early in the second half with 10 straight points that pushed the team's lead past the 20-point mark for the first time. Crawford, who took over the paint following halftime, recorded three buckets for TCU in the opening three minutes before finishing with 10 points in the period. She added five boards in the half, including three on the offensive glass.
Overall, the Frogs outscored the Rebels 27-4 during the crucial 12-minute run stretching between the first and second halves.
TCU led by as many as 24 points in the second stanza, but UNLV sank four 3-pointers in the final six minutes to climb within 14 points by game's end.
TCU returns to the road this weekend for a Saturday matchup against Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo. Tip-off from the Rams' Moby Arena is set for 3 p.m. CT.
Players Mentioned
