TCU Set for Road Battle at Oklahoma State
1/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STILLWATER, Okla. - The TCU women's basketball team returns to the road on Saturday to take on Oklahoma State at 2 p.m., at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
FOLLOW LIVE
Fans can listen to Saturday's contest on the radio broadcast on KTCU 88.7 and FrogVision with Russell Scott on the call.
For live updates, fans can also follow @tcuwbasketball on Twitter or by viewing GameTracker.
THE OPPONENT
Oklahoma State enters Saturday's contest with a 12-5 mark overall and 2-4 record in Big 12 play.
The Cowgirls feature the league's top scoring defense, holding the opposition to just 52.8 points per contest while also ranking third in field-goal percentage (.353) and steals (10.2 spg). Oklahoma State is also one of the league's top shooting squads, ranking first in 3-point percentage (.382) and third in field-goal percentage (.454).
Junior guard Brittney Martin paces OSU and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and seventh in scoring (12.8 ppg). Sophomore guard Roshunda Johnson leads the league in steals (3.1 spg) and places third in 3-point percentage (.431) and fourth in assists (5.2 apg), while senior center LaShawn Jones averages 10.9 points per game and ranks sixth in field-goal percentage (.545).
THE SERIES
TCU and Oklahoma State square off for the 10th time in the series history, as the Cowgirls hold a 6-3 advantage.
The Horned Frogs claimed their first meeting this season, knocking off the 16th-ranked Cowgirls in Fort Worth by a score of 70-66. TCU used a 12-0 run over the final seven minutes to seal the upset.
TCU has dropped all five previous meetings against the Cowgirls in Stillwater.
UP NEXT
The Horned Frogs return home for a pair of contests against top-10 opponents, hosting No. 3 Baylor on Tuesday and No. 9 Texas on Sunday.
LAST TIME OUT
TCU couldn't withstand a 3-point barrage on Wednesday night, falling to Iowa State by a score of 80-62 at Hilton Coliseum.
Junior guard Veja Hamilton led three Horned Frogs in double figures with 16 points, including 14 in the second half, off an 8-of-16 effort from the field.
Sophomore forward Jada Butts matched a career high with 12 points to go with six rebounds, while junior guard Zahna Medley added 10 points.
Junior forward Chelsea Prince pulled down 10 rebounds, marking her sixth double-figure performance, while also posting six points.
TCU (11-6, 3-3) struggled early on, connecting on just 3 of its first 14 shot attempts, while five different Horned Frogs picked up two fouls in the opening 20 minutes.
The Frogs managed to go into the break trailing just 34-27 before the Cyclones built a 10-0 run to push out to a 44-29 lead in the opening three minutes.
TCU turned up the pressure and quickly trimmed the deficit back to nine on a Hamilton jumper at the 15:17 mark, but the Cyclones answered with a pair of 3-pointers.
Trailing by as many as 22 points, the Frogs continued fighting, trimming the deficit down to 12 on two occasions, but the Cyclones would answer each run with long-range buckets, connecting on eight on 13 attempts in the second half.
HAMILTON'S HOT HAND
Junior guard Veja Hamilton is currently in the midst of a career stretch, averaging 17.7 points over the last seven contests while reaching double figures in eight of the last nine 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 six Big 12 contests, including back-to-back performances of over 20 points against Kansas and Oklahoma.
Hamilton, who enrolled at TCU at the age of 16, has shot 60 percent (59-98) over the last seven games for a team-best 52-percent mark on the season. Hamilton ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring (16.7 ppg) and fourth in field-goal percentage (57.1) in league games.
A LUCRATIVE DEFENSE
TCU's style of defense is designed to create opportunities on offense, and the Horned Frogs have done just that this season, averaging 20.3 points off of turnovers.
TCU tallied 27 points off of 22 miscues in its 80-63 win at Kansas, while posting 32 points off of 21 turnovers in the come-from-behind victory over Iowa State on Jan. 7.
Trailing by as much as 24 points in the second half against the Cyclones, 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 has tallied 20 or more points off turnovers in eight games, including a high of 36 against SMU and Texas Southern.
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 76 percent mark that ranks second in the Big 12.
The Horned Frogs have gotten to the charity stripe more than the opposition in nine of 17 games, where TCU is 8-1.
Zahna Medley (.886) and Chelsea Prince (.885) currently rank first and second, respectively, in the Big 12 in free-throw percentage.
MILESTONE WATCH
A trio of Horned Frogs currently appear 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 1,274 points while recently moving into fifth place in career 3-pointers (172). The Fort Worth native is eighth in made free throws (248) and field goals (427).
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 ranks second in the Big 12 with 2.7 steals per game, moved into ninth place in the last contest with 176 career steals. The Fort Worth product has averaged 2.7 steals over the last 29 contests.
Junior guard Zahna Medley, who entered the 1,000-points club on Nov. 19, currently ranks fourth in 3-pointers made (194), sixth in assists (313), ninth in points (1,202) and 10th in made free throws (238).
