TCU Set for Road Tilt at Kansas
1/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Winners of six of its last seven contests, the TCU women's basketball team will carry its momentum on the road to take on Kansas at 7 p.m., Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse. The contest will be available for viewing on ESPN3.
FOLLOW LIVE
Wednesday's contest will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Nate Bukaty and Brenda VanLengen calling all of the action.
Fans can also listen to the contest on the radio broadcast on KTCU 88.7 and FrogVision with Russell Scott on the call.
For live updates, fans can follow @tcuwbasketball on Twitter or by viewing GameTracker.
THE OPPONENT
Kansas enters Wednesday's meeting with the Horned Frogs with a 9-7 overall record and 0-3 mark in Big 12 play, dropping its first three league games to No. 3 Texas, Oklahoma and K-State.
The Jayhawks are averaging 64.2 points per game and shooting 43 percent from the field while holding the opposition to 58.4 points and a 35-percent mark from the field.
KU has found success from beyond the arc, ranking second in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage (.382) and fourth in 3-point field goals made per game (6.5).
Six-foot-3 senior forward Chelsea Gardner leads the Jayhawks, ranking fifth in the Big 12 in scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg), sixth in field-goal percentage (.524) and seventh in free-throw percentage (.770).
Senior guard Natalie Knight is also scoring in double figures with 12.4 points per contest while ranking second in the league in 3-point percentage (.427) and third in 3-pointers made per game (2.2).
THE SERIES
TCU and Kansas will face off for just the seventh time in the series that dates back to 2009, as the Jayhawks hold a 4-2 advantage.
The two teams split the series last season, with TCU overcoming an 11-point deficit in the final five minutes for a 52-50 victory in Fort Worth before dropping a 62-53 decision in Lawrence. TCU is 0-2 against the Jayhawks in Lawrence.
UP NEXT
Following Wednesday's road contest at Kansas, the Horned Frogs return home to play host to Oklahoma at 1 p.m., on Saturday.
TCU then takes on Iowa State (Jan. 21) and Oklahoma State (Jan. 24) in back-to-back road contests.
LAST TIME OUT
TCU took its first lead with just over five minutes remaining and held on to topple No. 16 Oklahoma State by a score of 70-66 on Saturday to improve to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play.
Zahna Medley led the Horned Frogs with 17 points, while Chelsea Prince (15), Veja Hamilton (15) and Donielle Breaux (12) also scored in double figures.
The Horned Frogs, who trailed by as many as eight points following an OSU run with 11:22 remaining, took its first lead of the contest with just 5:15 left to play and used a 12-0 run over the final seven minutes to seal the upset.
Trailing 64-58 with 6:58 left to play, Medley connected on her second 3-pointer of the night to cut the deficit in half.
Following a pair of free throws from Prince, Hamilton knocked down a long jumper to give the Frogs their first lead at the 5:15 mark.
With a two-point advantage and 1:42 remaining, Hamilton stripped Oklahoma State's LaShawn Jones on a drive to the basket, leading to another pair of Prince free throws for a four-point lead with 1:29 left.
Medley would help put the contest out of reach with 20 seconds remaining, grabbing a steal and lobbing to senior guard Natalie Ventress for the open layup and a six-point lead.
The Frogs held the Cowgirls scoreless for over seven minutes until OSU converted a layup with just eight seconds remaining in the game.
HAMILTON'S HOT HAND
Junior guard Veja Hamilton is currently in the midst of a career stretch, averaging 11.7 points over the last nine contests while reaching double figures in five of the last six outings.
The Spring, Texas, native rattled off a career-best 24 points against UC Irvine on Dec. 30, where she went 11-of-14 from the field. Hamilton has followed up with double figures in each of TCU's three Big 12 contests, including a 16-point effort in TCU's comeback win over Iowa State where she connected on eight of nine shots down the stretch.
Hamilton, who enrolled at TCU at the age of 16, has shot 52 percent (49-94) during the nine-game stretch, including a 61-percent clip (31-51) in the last four contests.
CASHING IN ON FREEBIES
TCU head coach Raegan Pebley made free-throw shooting a point of emphasis for the Horned Frogs, setting a goal of 80 percent each game, which TCU has nearly hit this season with a 77 percent mark that ranks second in the Big 12.
The Horned Frogs have gotten to the charity stripe more than the opposition in eight of 14 games, where TCU is 7-1.
Three Frogs (Zahna Medley, Chelsea Prince, Donielle Breaux) currently rank in the top five in the Big 12 in free-throw shooting.
A LUCRATIVE DEFENSE
TCU's style of defense is designed to create opportunities on offense, and the Horned Frogs did just that in Wednesday's come-from-behind victory over Iowa State, scoring 32 points off of 21 turnovers.
Trailing by as much as 24 points in the second half, TCU amped up the defensive pressure and tallied 29 points off of turnovers in the final 17 minutes compared to just two Horned Frog miscues.
TCU is scoring an average of 20.9 points per game off of opponent turnovers this season, including a high of 36 against SMU and Texas Southern.
MILESTONE WATCH
A trio of Horned Frogs currently appears in the top 10 of the program's career records and look to continue climbing the chart this season.
Senior guard Natalie Ventress, who competed in her 100th-career contest on Dec. 13, is currently eighth all-time with 1,240 points while moving into fifth place on Saturday with 166 career 3-pointers. The Fort Worth native is eighth in made free throws (248) and ninth in field goals (413).
Ventress has averaged double figures in scoring in each of her three seasons in the Purple and White and looks to become just the second Horned Frog in program history to achieve the feat in all four years, joining TCU great Sandora Irvin.
Fellow senior Chelsea Prince, who led the Big 12 a season ago with 2.4 steals per game in league play, tallied three steals in TCU's win over Iowa State to move into 10th place all-time. The Fort Worth product has averaged 2.8 steals over the last 26 contests.
Junior guard Zahna Medley, who entered the 1,000-points club on Nov. 19, needs just two points to enter the top 10 while currently ranking fourth in 3-pointers made (189) and ninth in assists (298).
