Horned Frogs Wrap Up Non-Conference Play Saturday Night
1/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2012
GAME DAY INFORMATION
TCU Horned Frogs(7-7, 0-0 Mountain West)
Head Coach: Jeff Mittie
Career Record: 418-192 (7-7 Season)
School Record: 267-133 (13th Season)
Harvard(6-6, 0-0 Ivy League)
Head Coach: Kathy Delaney-Smith
Harvard Career Record: 462-325 (6-6 season)
Location: Fort Worth, Texas • Arena: Daniel-Meyer Coliseum
Rankings: TCU - NR/NR • Harvard - NR/NR
Last Time Out: TCU lost to UTPA, 54-56
Television: None
Television Talent: None
Live Video: http://gofrogs.cstv.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. Harvard: TCU leads, 1-0
Last Meeting vs. Harvard: Dec. 6, 1992 (W, 80-72)
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU will close the non-conference portion of its schedule Saturday with a home game against Harvard University at 6:30 p.m. The Horned Frogs and Crimson will battle for only the second time in program history as the two teams previously met in 1992 at the Harvard Classic.
The Opponent
Harvard brings a 6-6 record into Saturday's contest after defeating UMass in its previous outing, 68-47. Against the Minutewomen, Christine Clark led the Crimson with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Emma Golen recorded 10 points and six rebounds. In all, Harvard made a season-high nine three-pointers and shot a scorching 47.4 percent from the floor. Clark has led the Crimson attack this season, scoring 15.8 points per game, while averaging 5.8 boards. Brogan Berry and Victoria Lippert are also in double-figures in scoring with 12.3 and 11.3 points per game, respectively.
The Series
TCU and Harvard will be meeting for the second time in program history Saturday. The Horned Frogs won the only other meeting against the Crimson, but haven't played the Ivy League school since the 1992 season. In 1992, TCU used a solid all-around performance and some key free throws down the stretch to steal an 80-72 victory at the Harvard Classic in historic Lavietes Pavilion.
Wrapping Up Non-Conference Play
If recent trends hold true, the Horned Frogs should be in good shape Saturday against Harvard. The Frogs haven't lost their final non-conference game of the season since the 2008-09 campaign and are 10-2 overall under head coach Jeff Mittie. That stretch includes going 2-0 against Ivy League schools after defeating Brown and Cornell during the 2001 and 2006 seasons, respectively.
A Look Ahead
TCU will begin Mountain West play at San Diego State next Wednesday, marking the third-straight season in which the Horned Frogs will open MW action away from Fort Worth. The Frogs are 5-1 in Mountain West conference openers since 2006 and have won five-straight. Overall, TCU is 2-0 against the Aztecs in conference openers.
Follow The Frogs
Fans not able to attend the Harvard game can follow the game live via a live stream, 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.
Ventress Starting To Heat Up
Freshman Natalie Ventress has led TCU in scoring four out of the last five games, including back-to-back 15-point outings against Texas Southern and UTPA. So far this season, the freshman has led the Frogs in scoring six times, becoming the first Horned Frog freshman to lead the Purple and White in scoring in six games since former Horned Frog and current professional Helena Sverrisdottir carried TCU in eight games during the 2007-08 season. By leading the Frogs in scoring the last three games, Ventress joined Sverrisdottir as the only freshman to lead a TCU squad in scoring in back-to-back-to-back games since the Iceland native did so in three out of four games in February of 2008.
Holding Their Own
TCU held Texas Southern without a three-pointer during the first half, marking the second-straight home game an opponent had went scoreless from deep during a half. The Frogs are now 3-0 this season when accomplishing that feat, having done so at Houston earlier this year as well. In the past two seasons, TCU has now held six different opponents to no triples during a half of play, with its only loss in that stretch coming to West Virginia.
Wynn Stepping Up Her Play
Sophomore Briesha Wynn has been making her presence known on the offensive end of the court since the beginning of December. The sophomore has scored in double-figures in five of the Horned Frogs' last eight games, including four out of the last six. During the past two years, the Horned Frogs have been almost automatic in the win column when Wynn scores double-digit points, going a combined 8-2, with its only losses coming to Texas A&M and UTPA when she scored a career-high 14 points in both contests.
Iron Unkind From Three-Point Land
Heading into Saturday's game against Harvard, the Frogs have held six different opponents to less than 20 percent shooting from behind the arc, including Texas Southern who shot 12.5 percent and didn't make a single-three in the first half, going 0-for-6. In six of TCU's victories this winter, UTSA (10.3), Fordham (19.2), Houston (15.4), Sam Houston State (16.7), Tulsa (16.7) and TSU (12.5) have all shot under 20 percent from three. The Frogs are now 18-1 the last three seasons when holding the opposition to under 20 percent. TCU's only loss came last season against future conference opponent West Virginia when the Mountaineers shot 16.6 percent from three and won.
Holding Opponents Down
So far this season, TCU has held seven different opponents under 30 percent shooting from the field (UTSA, SMU, Fordham, Houston, Sam Houston State, Tulsa and Texas Southern). During the last four years, the Frogs have been almost perfect record wise when holding the opposition to less than 34.9 percent from the field, going 42-4 overall since the 2008-09 season.
Causing Havoc On The Defensive End
In six out of the last eight games, the Frogs have forced 20 + turnovers on the defensive end of the court. Against Texas Southern, TCU caused the Tigers to cough the ball up 20 times, which follows outings of Texas A&M (24), Lamar (22), Houston (22), Sam Houston State (22) and Oklahoma (26). The Frogs have turned those turnovers into points on the offensive end, holding a combined 130-96 advantage in points off turnovers.
Defending The Rim
Led by freshman Ashley Colberts' four blocks, the Horned Frogs totaled nine blocks against UTPA, which marks the sixth time this season the Frogs have blocked at least eight shots in a single-game. TCU's record during those five contests is 4-2, with the only losses coming to Hartford and UTPA. Overall, the Purple and White have totaled 91 blocks after 14 games. In comparison, TCU tallied only 136 blocks a year ago in 33 games.
Moving Up The Charts
Going into Saturday's game against Harvard, sophomore Latricia Lovings sits in the top 10 all-time in program history in blocked shots. Lovings, who currently sits No. 10 all-time in school history, already has 51 blocks in her young career, which is quite impressive considering that she has only played in a total of 36 games. She only needs two more to overtake Vanessa Clementino (2004-06) at No. 9. With four more blocks, the sophomore will move into a tie with Janice Thomas (1999-01) and Amy Bumsted (1990-94) for No. 7 all-time in blocked shots.
Getting It Down Low Means Success
In six of TCU's seven victories this season, the Frogs have outscored their opponent in the paint. When the Purple and White haven't outscored the opposition down low, TCU is 1-6. The lone game in which TCU has outscored its opponent, but lost is UTPA. The Frogs outscored the Broncs, 30-18. Even more impressive is in four of the Frogs' seven victories either Latricia Lovings or Ashley Colbert has scored in double-figures. Lovings scored 10 points against both UTSA and Fordham, while Colbert dropped 10 on Houston and 11 against TSU. Only one time this season has one scored in double-figures and the Frogs lost (NC State - Colbert: 16 points).
Last Time Out
Natalie Ventress scored 15 points Thursday night, but TCU dropped a hard-fought 56-54 decision to Texas-Pan American at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
Down by one in the closing seconds of the contest, senior Antoinette Thompson stole the rock from a Bronc player and the Frogs appeared to be in business with the ball in hand and only 29 seconds left to go in the game. After a quick timeout, sophomore Briesha Wynn drove to the bucket and put up a running shot with 19 seconds left, but the ball rattled out. Wynn tried to get redemption the next trip down the court after UTPA's Erin Lewis missed the front end of a free throw, but her shot came up short for a second-straight trip and the Broncs were able to escape with their first victory ever in a series that dates back to 1978.
Ventress led TCU (7-7) on the night with 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field, while Wynn chipped in by tying a career-high with 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting. The sophomore also tallied a team-high seven boards. Ventress has now led TCU in scoring four out of the last five games, while also topping the scoring column for the Purple and White for a third-straight contest.
Up Next
TCU will open conference play at San Diego State next Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 10:00 p.m. CT and will be televised on The Mtn. Calling the game will be Tracy Warren and Krista Blunk.
