TCU Ready For Saturday Night Tilt With Utah
1/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2011
GAME DAY INFORMATION
GAME NOTES |
Salt Lake City, Utah • Jon M. Huntsman Center • Saturday, Jan. 22 • 7:00 p.m.
TV: CBS College Sports • TV Talent: Brent Stover, Tammy Blackburn
Radio: KTCU (88.7 FM), gofrogs.com • Talent: Jeff Williams
Internet (gofrogs.com): Live Stats, Live Radio
Series Record vs. Utah: Utah Leads (9-7)
Last Meeting vs. Utah: March 12, 2010 (L, 57-69)
TCU Head Coach: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western, `89)
Record: 251-121 in 12 years at TCU (402-180 overall)
Assistants: Brian Ostermann (Wis. La Crosse, `88), Tonya Haut (Baylor, `99)
Tricia Davern (TCU, `02)
Utah Head Coach: Anthony Leverts (Lafayette `00)
Utah Record: 10-9 (First Year)
• The Horned Frogs haven't lost a regular-season contest since falling to Georgia on Dec. 22. Overall, TCU is on a seven-game winning streak and has won eight out of its last nine games.
• Senior Emily Carter has led TCU in scoring during 10 contests this winter. She has scored over 20 points in eight games and currently sits No. 23 in the NCAA in scoring.
• TCU is currently on a seven-game winning streak. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, the Horned Frogs' largest winning-streak is an 11-game streak during the 2000-01 season.
• The Horned Frogs are 163-33 (.832) during the Jeff Mittie era when out-rebounding its opposition.
FORT WORTH, Texas - Fresh off a 54-51 decision over BYU Wednesday, TCU will travel to Utah Saturday night for a 7 p.m. CT contest at the Utes' Huntsman Center. The contest will be televised nationally by CBS College Sports.
In a physical back-and-fourth contest, TCU escaped with a 54-51 decision over BYU Wednesday night to remain undefeated in Mountain West Conference play.
The Horned Frogs, who have now won seven-straight and 31 of their last 32 games in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, moved to 13-6 overall and 5-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
TCU will return home Jan. 26 against New Mexico. Start time is set for 6:30 p.m. from Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
The Last Time Out
TCU rallied from a halftime deficit Wednesday to capture a 54-51 victory over BYU. Overall, TCU, who trailed by two at intermission, is now the lone undefeated MWC team and in sole possession of first-place in the conference.
Helena Sverrisdottir led the Frogs Wednesday with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from deep. The senior did most her damage after halftime, scoring nine second half points on 3-of-5 shooting. Fellow senior Emily Carter was the only other Frog in double figures with 15 points. Starr Crawford also had a solid game with eight points and 10 boards.
With time running down, BYU had a chance to tie the game at 54-54 in the closing seconds, but their three as time expired rattled out to preserve the TCU victory.
The All-Time Series
TCU and Utah will be meeting for the 17th time in program history Saturday night. The Horned Frogs have won three out of the last four meetings, including a four overtime game in Salt Lake City last season. Utah leads the series, 9-7.
The Frogs won both regular season contests last season, but fell to the Utes in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, 69-57.
In Fort Worth, Starr Crawford scored 15 points and pulled down eight boards to help lead then No. 25 TCU to an impressive 62-41 victory over visiting Utah.
Fast forward to their final regular season meeting and then No. 24 TCU survived four overtimes for a 105-96 victory at the Utes' Huntsman Center. Emily Carter had 25 points, while Helena Sverrisdottir finished with 21 points.
Follow The Horned Frogs
TCU's Saturday contest with Utah can be heard live on the radio throughout the Metroplex on 88.7 KTCU-FM with Jeff Williams. A live stats feed is also available via GoFrogs.com. Fans wishing to view gametracker may do so by clicking on the link on the right side of the schedule page. The game will also be shown live on CBS College Sports with Brent Stover and Tammy Blackburn calling.
Scouting Utah
Utah is coming off a 56-53 victory over New Mexico Wednesday night. With the win, the Utes moved to 10-9 overall and 3-2 in league play.
Michelle Plouffe led the way for Utah with 13 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, while Rachel Messer added 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Iwalani Rodrigues leads the Utes this season, averaging 14.2 points-per-game. She entered the week ranking sixth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage with a .438 percentage from deep.
Frogs Stay Hot
With its win over BYU, the Frogs have now won five-straight conference games, which is the best mark to open a conference season since the 2005-06 season. TCU has never opened MWC play with six-straight victories. Overall, the Frogs last won six-straight games against MWC foes during the 2008-09 season. In the Mountain West Conference, TCU's longest winning streak during the conference season is seven-straight victories, which took place during the 2007-08 season.
A Look At Streaks
With its current seven-game winning streak, TCU is approaching chartered territory. Overall, the Horned Frogs have won at least seven in-a-row five out of the last six years. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, the Frogs' longest winning-streak is 11 games, which took place during the 2000-2001 season. Assistant coach Tricia Davern and director of operations Ebony Gilliam were a part of that squad.
Road Warriors
On Saturday night, TCU will be looking for its third-straight victory on the road against an MWC opponent. Overall, the Horned Frogs have only started 3-0 on the road to open Mountain West Conference play one other time, which was 2005-06. TCU's longest MWC road winning-streak is five games, which happened in 2007-08.
Horned Frogs Sizzle With Starr
Since returning the Horned Frog lineup against Georgia, Starr Crawford has made her presence felt. The sophomore and preseason All-America candidate by Sporting News has posted double digit scoring games in five out of the eight contests, which has led TCU a 7-1 record and its current seven-game winning streak. The Frogs have also out-rebounded their opponent during that stretch in three games with Crawford leading the way in boards during six of those contests.
Suffocating Defense
During the last five games, the Frogs have turned up their defensive pressure, which has helped them open the conference season with a 5-0 record. In three out of the last five games, TCU has held its opponent under 50 points. During that span, opponents have shot 40 percent or lower in four out of the five games, including the last three. UNLV was the lone MWC foe to shoot over 40 percent with 41 percent.
Even more impressive is the fact that during the Horned Frogs last three outings, TCU has shutdown Wyoming, Colorado State and BYU respectively, from deep. The Frogs forced the three teams to go a combined 7-of-51 (.137) from behind the arc.
Frogs Back On The Tube
When TCU takes on Utah it will mark the fifth time this season the Purple and White have played on national television. The Frogs, now 3-1 on tv this season, have fared quite nicely during television games the last two season's, going 17-8 during regular-season play. Last season, TCU went an impressive 10-2 when playing in front of a national audience during regular-season action.
Horned Frogs Continue To Impress In NCAA
Entering this week, the Frogs, who are No. 51 in RPI, have done quite nicely among the nation's best. TCU ranks No. 59 overall in 3-point field goal percentage (.347). The Horned Frogs also moved into the top 55 in scoring offense, ranking No. 53 overall. Finally, TCU sits No. 37 nationally in free-throw percentage (.738), No. 43 in scoring margin (11.1), No. 32 Field Goal Percentage Defense (.355) and No. 29 Turnovers Per Game (14.7).
Overall, the Frogs rank in the top 100 nationally in 14 different categories.
Individually, Emily Carter paces the Frogs', ranking No. 23 overall in scoring average with a 19.1 average. Fellow senior Helena Sverrisdottir, who is No. 85 in the nation in steals, sits No. 92 in points per game, while averaging 16.3 points. Carter also sits No. 15 in free throw percentage (.888) and in the top-60 in 3-point field goal attempts per game (2.5). Finally, sophomore Starr Crawford moved into No. 59 in rebounds per game (9.1).
TCU In The Mountain West Conference
19 games into the season, the Horned Frogs lead the conference in scoring offense (69.7), defensive rebounds (27.4) and field goal percentage defense (.356). The Frogs also sit No. 2 in scoring margin (+10.7), free throw percentage (.740), 3-point field goal percentage (.349), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.277) and turnover margin (+2.42).
Individually, Emily Carter leads the conference in scoring average (18.9) and free throw percentage (.888). She also ranks in the top 3 in three-point field goals made (2.4). Helena Sverrisdottir currently sits No. 5 in scoring (16.3) in the conference. She also ranks No. 2 in steals (2.4) entering Saturday. Finally, sophomore Starr Crawford ranks No. 2 in rebounding (9.2) and No. 1 in offensive rebounds (3.3). She also sits No. 3 in defensive rebounds (5.9) heading into action Saturday.
Up Next
TCU will return home to face New Mexico on Jan. 26. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.
