TCU Travels To Air Force Wednesday Night
1/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2012
GAME DAY INFORMATION
TCU Horned Frogs(9-10, 2-2 Mountain West)
Head Coach: Jeff Mittie
Career Record: 420-195 (9-10 Season)
School Record: 269-136 (13th Season)
Air Force(5-14, 0-4 Mountain West)
Head Coach: Andrea Williams
Air Force Career Record: 14-36 (5-14 season)
Location: USAFA, Colo. • Arena: Clune Arena
Rankings: TCU - NR/NR • Air Force - NR/NR
Last Time Out: TCU defeated Boise State, 74-68
Television: None
Television Talent: None
Live Video: http://goairforcefalcons.com/allaccess
Live Audio: http://gofrogs.cstv.com/allaccess
Live Stats: GoFrogs.com (Gametracker)
Radio: KTCU (88.7 FM) Jeff Williams (Play-By-Play); Jeff Lewis (Color)
Twitter Updates: http://twitter.com/TCUWbasketball
Series Record vs. Air Force: TCU leads, 16-2
Last Meeting vs. Air Force: March 2, 2011 (W, 88-51)
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU will return to the road on Wednesday for an 8:00 p.m. CT tilt against Air Force at Clune Arena. The Horned Frogs and Falcons will meet for the 19th time Wednesday night and the Frogs have won 16 out of the last 17 meetings.
The Opponent
Air Force comes into Wednesday's contest with a 5-14 overall record and a 0-4 mark in the Mountain West after falling to San Diego State in its last outing, 75-62. Against the Aztecs, junior Dymond James recorded her third double-double of the year with a 19-point, 11 rebound effort. Sophomore Megan O'Neil also had a solid outing, scoring in double-figures with a career-best 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Alicia Leipprandt has led the Falcon attack this season, averaging 13.9 points per game and 5.2 boards. James also averages double-figures with a 12.6 points per game average and 7.2 rebounds a contest.
The Series
TCU and Air Force will be meeting for the 19th time in program history Wednesday. The Horned Frogs own a 16-2 advantage in the series and have won 16 out of the last 17 meetings. Overall, TCU went 1-1 against the Falcons last season, falling 60-55 at Air Force before posting a dominating 88-51 victory at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum last February.
The Gross Factor
Delisa Gross had a breakout game against Boise State, scoring a season-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. With her 18-point showing, Gross has now scored in double-figures three times this season. During her three years on campus, the Horned Frogs are an impressive 13-5 when Gross scores in double-figures.
When A Quartet Scores
For only the second time this season, the Horned Frogs had four players score in double-figures at Boise State. TCU has now accomplished that feat seven times during the last two years. During that stretch, the Frogs are 5-2, with their only losses coming at the hands of NC State earlier this season and against Oral Roberts last spring.
Lovings Continues To Make Presence Known
Sophomore Latricia Lovings had probably one of her best defensive games of her career against UNLV, setting a new career-high in blocked shots with six. By doing so, she posted the most blocks in a single-game since current professional Sandora Irvin blocked eight against Saint Louis in 2005. Lovings now has 65 blocks in her young career, which is quite impressive considering that she has only played in a total of 41 games. She just moved past Helena Sverrisdottir for No. 4 all-time in program history and needs only two more blocks to overtake Kati Safaritova, who tallied 66 between 2000-02.
Horned Frogs Solid After A Loss In Mountain West Play
TCU is 20-3 all-time in Mountain West games following a conference loss. The only losses during that stretch came last season against Air Force and in 2007 against Wyoming and New Mexico, respectively. Overall, TCU has only lost two-straight MW regular-season games only three times since 2005-06.
Getting To Intermission On Top A Key
In 19 games, TCU has shown that if it can get to the halftime break with a lead or tied then ultimately the Horned Frogs will come away with a victory, going 8-1 this season when leading or tied at the break. The only loss came at the hands of Hartford when the Purple and White led by three at the break. When TCU hasn't led at intermission, the Frogs are 1-9 overall, with its only win coming after trailing by eight to Sam Houston State earlier this year.
Ventress Continues To Produce
Natalie Ventress has led TCU in scoring eight out of the last 10 games, including an 18-point showing against Boise State. So far this season, the freshman has led the Frogs in scoring 10 times, becoming the first Horned Frog freshman to lead the Purple and White in scoring in 10 games since former Horned Frog and current professional Helena Sverrisdottir carried TCU in eight games during the 2007-08 season.
Dropping It In From Deep
TCU connected on 12 three's against Colorado State last week, marking the third-straight season in which the Horned Frogs have done so against an opponent. The Frogs' 12 three-pointers against the Rams is tied for No. 5 all-time in program history for three-point field goals made in a single-game. The 12 triples were also the most since TCU connected on 12-made three's last season against Oral Roberts and ties the DMC record for most three-pointers made in a single-game.
Ventress Scoring In Bunches
Freshman Natalie Ventress posted her second-straight 20-point game against UNLV, scoring a new career-high of 23 points. By doing so, Ventress is the first freshman, according to records dating back to the 2000-01 season, to ever accomplish that feat during the Jeff Mittie era. She is also the only freshman to ever do so during conference play.
Last Time Out
TCU had four players score in double-figures last Saturday night as the Horned Frogs used a strong second half showing to drop Boise State at Taco Bell Arena, 74-68.
In a back-and-fourth game that was deadlocked at 29-29 at the break, TCU shot almost 60 percent from the floor in the second frame, shooting 57.7 percent on 15-of-26 shooting from the field.
Delisa Gross and Natalie Ventress both scored 18 points apiece, respectively, to lead the Horned Frogs, while Antoinette Thompson and Chelsea Prince chipped in with 10 points. Gross had a season-high of 18 on 6-of-11 shooting, which included 10 points in the second half. Ventress went 6-of-13 from the floor and knocked down several key free throws, going 4-for-4 down the stretch to seal the game for the Frogs. The freshman has now led TCU in scoring in eight out of the last 10 games, including three-straight.
Boise State was carried on the night by Lauren Lenhardt, who tallied a game-high 22 points and 10 boards. Katie Isham posted 18 points and Heather Pilcher rounded out the Broncos top-performers with 19 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field.
NCAA Stats Update
As the Frogs entered this week's games, TCU ranked in the top 50 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (No. 16 - .342) and blocked shots per game (No. 8 - 6.4). Individually, sophomore Latricia Lovings currently sits No. 32 in the nation in blocks per game (2.3).
Follow The Frogs
Fans not able to attend the Air Force game can follow the game live via Gametracker and radio. To access any of the above, go to the women's basketball schedule page and click on the respective links located on the right-hand side of the page.
Up Next
TCU will return home for a Noon contest against New Mexico on Saturday.
