Lady Frogs Take MWC Lead on Road to CSU
2/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2010
GAME #27
RV/RV TCU (20-6; 10-3 MWC) at COLORADO STATE (13-13; 5-8 MWC)
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Saturday, Feb. 27 • 2 p.m. MT • Fort Collins, Colo. • Moby Arena (8,745)
Radio: KTCU 88.7 FM; GoFrogs.com • Talent: Jeff Williams (play-by-play)
Internet (GoFrogs.com): Free Live Radio, Live Stats
Series Record vs. CSU: 9-3 • Last Meeting: Jan. 17, 2010 in Fort Worth (W, 87-51)
TCU Head Coach: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western, '89) • Record: 235-112 in 11 years at TCU (386-171 overall)
CSU Head Coach: Kristin Holt (Ohio, '92) • Record: 23-31 in 2 years at CSU
FORT WORTH--TCU, currently holding a one-game edge in the Mountain West Conference standings with three contests remaining, heads to Fort Collins, Colo., for a Saturday matchup against Colorado State. Tip-off from the Rams' Moby Arena is set for 2 p.m. MT.
The Lady Frogs enter the season's final two weekends needing to win two of three games to earn at least a share of their first MWC regular-season championship and their first league title of any kind since claiming the 2004-05 Conference USA Tournament crown. Any combination of a win and a BYU loss would also clinch a tie for the title.
The squad needs to start by solving its recent road woes, as it has gone only 3-3 away from Fort Worth in conference play and 5-5 overall this season. A trip to CSU may be just what the doctor ordered. TCU has won in its last four outings at Moby Arena by an average of 18.5 ppg.
The Rams enter Saturday holding down seventh place in the MWC standings, having already posted their most wins in a season since 2004-05. The team, 2-2 in its last four games with wins over Air Force and UNLV, owns a 9-3 home record in 2009-10.
Saturday's matchup will be broadcast live on the radio throughout the Metroplex on 88.7 KTCU-FM with veteran play-by-play man Jeff Williams calling the action. An Internet radio feed and link to live statistics will be available on game day via GoFrogs.com.
FROG QUICK NOTES
- TCU needs to win two of its final three games for at least a share of its first conference regular-season championship since 2001-02 (Conference USA). Any combination of a win and a BYU loss would also clinch a share of the title.
- TCU has now totaled 20 or more wins in nine of the last 10 seasons. The program had never reached the 20-win plateau prior to head coach Jeff Mittie's arrival in 1999-2000.
- TCU is 16-0 when shooting 40.0% or better from the field, 16-1 when outshooting the opponent and 16-1 when committing fewer turnovers.
- The Frogs are shooting 47.6% from the field overall and averaging 77.8 ppg during their last six outings.
- TCU's bench has outscored the opponent bench in 23 of 26 games this season, by an average of 10.1 ppg.
- Eboni Mangum is averaging 11.3 ppg over the last 10 games, third-most among all Frogs.
- Helena Sverrisdottir is the only individual ranked among the MWC's top-15 players in assists (No. 2), steals (No. 3), scoring (No. 7), rebounding (No. 7) and blocks (No. 15).
- Sverrisdottir needs only 10 assists to match her season total from a year ago, which ranks No. 3 in program history.
- Starr Crawford is only four boards shy of moving into seventh place on TCU's single-season rebound list.
- TK LaFleur (10.5 ppg; six starts) is the only MWC player averaging 10.0+ points with fewer than seven starts.
- Emily Carter leads TCU with a 16.2 ppg average in MWC play, which ranks No. 5 in the league. She paces the MWC in FT shooting (84.7%) for all games, while coming in at No. 2 in 3FG shooting (43.1%) and No. 5 in scoring (14.9 ppg).
- Carter's 3FG percentage would rank No. 2 in TCU single-season history behind only Amy Sutton (43.9% in 2000-01), while her FT rate would rank No. 3.
- TCU leads the MWC in scoring offense (73.4 ppg), scoring margin (+13.6), rebounds (40.2 rpg), steals (10.2 spg), turnovers forced (21.1 tpg) and turnover margin (+4.6 tpg).
- TCU ranked among the nation's top-50 teams in 12 categories Friday: scoring margin (23rd), assists (23rd), turnover margin (24th), scoring offense (26th), assist-turnover ratio (27th), 3FG defense (29th), FG defense (31st), FT shooting (32nd), win-loss percentage (34th), 3FG shooting (39th), 3FG made (41st) and steals (48th).
- TCU has made at least two 3-pointers in 61 consecutive games, at least one in 151 straight and at least five in all but one game in 2009-10.
INSIDE THE SERIES
TCU owns a 9-3 lead in the all-time series with Colorado State that began in 1993-94. The Frogs have won each of the last nine meetings since TCU joined the Mountain West Conference for the 2005-06 season.
TCU vs. COLORADO STATE ALL-TIME SERIES RESULTS
Date Site W/L Score
Dec. 11, 1993 A L 69-92
Jan. 13, 1999 H L 76-89
Feb. 11, 1999 A L 66-89
Jan. 21, 2006 A W 73-63
Feb. 22, 2006 H W 83-57
Jan. 6, 2007 H W 86-36
Feb. 7, 2007 A W 85-67
Jan. 19, 2008 H W 70-52
Feb. 20, 2008 A W 76-41
Jan. 7, 2009 A W 74-53
Feb. 7, 2009 H W 71-59
Jan. 27, 2010 H W 87-51
SCOUTING THE COLORADO STATE RAMS
Colorado State, which went 8-5 in non-conference play, has already posted its most victories in a season since 2004-05 despite fielding an extremely young squad featuring no senior players. In the team's most recent outing against New Mexico, two juniors and three sophomores filled the starting lineup. The Rams opened MWC play 3-2 but have won only two of their previous eight games.
Kristen Holt, in her second season as head coach, leads a squad that averages 61.2 points per game while giving up 62.2 per contest. The Rams rank No. 4 in the MWC in FT shooting (69.4%) and No. 5 in 3FGs (6.4 3pg), 3FG shooting (32.6%), FG defense (38.7%), rebounding (38.6%), steals (8.7 spg), offensive rebounds (13.0 rpg).
Guard Kim Mestdagh ranks as the team's offensive leader and currently ranks second in the MWC in scoring average (16.8 ppg) and 3FGs made (3.1 3pg). Forward Chantilla Van Grinsven averages 11.3 ppg despite having made only nine starts. Forward Meghan Heimstra leads the squad in rebounding (7.8 rpg), fourth-best in the league, while guard Zoi Simmons (2.7 apg) directs the team at the point.
LAST TIME WE MET: TCU 87, CSU 51
FORT WORTH (Jan. 27, 2010)—TCU earned its 10th victory in its 11 games, taking down visiting Colorado State, 78-51, at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Junior Emily Carter led the Frogs in scoring with 18 points.
Using its successful formula of aggressive offense and opportunistic defense, TCU took command of the game early and never looked back. The Frogs moved out to a double-digit edge just over 10 minutes into the contest, led by 14 points at intermission and by as many as 33 with six minutes remaining.
As has been the case all season, TCU fed off its opponent's mistakes. The Rams were forced into giving up the ball 22 times, including 13 times in the first half. The miscues were turned into a 25-14 Frog advantage in points off turnovers by game's end.
Carter again paced TCU's offensive attack, leading the squad in scoring for the eighth time in nine games. She went 7-of-9 from the floor and drilled 3-of-4 attempts from 3-point range.
Also reaching double figures were Helena Sverrisdottir with 14 points (6-of-9 field goals) and TK LaFleur with 11. LaFleur's ninth point of the evening pushed her over the 1,000-point mark for her career. Sverrisdottir led TCU in rebounds (six) and assists (five). The Frogs outrebounded CSU on the evening by a 41-38 margin, improving to 10-1 in such games.
Players Mentioned
