Frogs Open Schollmaier Arena with Southern Utah
12/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TCU (8-2, 0-0) vs. Southern Utah (2-7, 0-0) | |
|---|---|
| Date (Time) | Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015 (3:30 p.m. CT) |
| Location | Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena | Fort Worth, Texas |
| TV/Webcast | GoFrogs.com through FrogVision |
| Radio Listing | KTCU 88.7 FM in the DFW Metroplex Jeff Williams (play-by-play) |
| Live Stats | GoFrogs.com |
| Game Notes | TCU Game Notes |
FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU hosts Southern Utah on Sunday afternoon in the inaugural women's basketball game at the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena as the Horned Frogs close out non-conference play.
Previously known as the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, TCU begins play in the $72 million renovated facility on Sunday. The Schollmaiers provided the lead gift. The Daniel-Meyer name remains prominent as the entire area will be known as the Daniel-Meyer Athletic Complex. The TCU basketball programs are receiving new locker rooms and team meeting rooms as well as an expanded sports medicine center. There will also be locker rooms for visiting teams and a new video board. The new building facade for the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena architecturally complements Amon G. Carter Stadium and the TCU campus. The interior has a lowered playing surface to increase courtside seating and provide a more intimate atmosphere. The fan experience will be further enhanced by new concession stands, a food court and restrooms as well as increased points of sale. A new courtside club lounge will be located on floor level. Additional features of the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena are a TCU Athletics Hall of Fame on the concourse level, offices for Olympic sports and administration and a larger main ticket office to support both the arena and Amon G. Carter Stadium.
The Horned Frogs are 7-3 heading into the final tune-up for Big 12 Conference play with two of the three losses coming at the hands of ranked teams, including No. 3/3 Notre Dame last week and No. 12/12 Texas A&M. The Frogs are already showing notable improvements over last season, increasing scoring through the first 10 games of the season by almost seven points over the previous season and increasing three-point shooting from 32.8 percent to 40.2 percent this season.
Tickets for Sunday's opening contest in the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena are available through the TCU Athletics Ticket Office and at GoFrogs.com. Tickets start as low as $5. All fans entering the arena on Sunday will receive a free towel that features the new floor design of Walsh Court at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. The first 500 fans entering the women's game on Sunday will receive a free purple Santa hat.
2015-16 HIGHLIGHTS
• Zahna Medley and Veja Hamilton earned preseason All-Big 12 Conference honors in a vote of the league's coaches. Medley earned first team honors while Hamilton was awarded honorable mention selections.
• TCU was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Conference in a tally of the league's head coaches. TCU was just one point behind fourth place Iowa State. The Frogs have finished ahead of where they were picked in the preseason standings in the league in each of the last two seasons.
• TCU ended its two-year tenure in the University Recreation Center on Dec. 12, 2015 when the Horned Frogs hosted No. 3/3 Notre Dame. The Frogs went 21-4 in 25 games in the venue with three of the four losses coming at the hands of teams ranked in the top five nationally. The tenure in the venue included a 12-game home winning streak that was the third longest in TCU history for home games.
• The Horned Frogs have signed one of the best recruiting classes in program history and one of the nation's top 10 classes this year with the November 2015 signings of Amber Ramirez, Mikayla Christian, Kianna Ray, Ella Hellessey and Danielle Rainey. Ramirez is the top signee in the class and is ranked among the top 15 players nationally, making her the second highest rated player to sign with TCU in program history behind Sandora Irvin (ranked 6th prior to joining Frogs).
TALKING POINTS AND NOTABLE STATISTICS
• TCU currently has six players averaging at least 8.0 points per game. In program history, TCU's 1999-00 team had six players average at least 8.0 points per game and the program has had nine teams have at least five players average 8.0 points per game or more for a season.
• TCU is in its second season under the leadership of head coach Raegan Pebley. Pebley led TCU to 18 wins in 2014-15, the most wins in a coaches' first-year at TCU in program history.
STATISTICAL JUMPSHOTS
• Senior Zahna Medley has shown major improvement in leading the TCU offense this year. She has just 26 turnovers in 10 games this year while she had 50 turnovers in her first 10 appearances of the 2014-15 season.
• Senior Zahna Medley has knocked down at least three three-point field goals in 8-of-10 games this season. She accomplished the feat nine times last season and has done it 41 times in her career.
• Medley has dished out multiple assists in 13 consecutive games.
• Freshman Jordan Moore has multiple blocks in 9-of-10 games this season.
• Moore has scored at least eight points in six straight games.
• In the last two seasons, Medley has 20 assists and just nine turnovers when playing teams ranked in the top five nationally.
• With senior Caitlin Diaz and sophomore Toree Thompson making their first career starts on Nov. 28, 2015 against UT Rio Grande Valley, a total of nine players on the TCU roster have at least one career start to their credit.
• TCU played seven games in the opening 19 days of the season, including road trips to SMU, Texas A&M and Butler.
• TCU has held a lead of at least 20 points at the break in five games this season.
SCHOLLMAIER ARENA SET TO OPEN
TCU's contest with Southern Utah marks the opening of the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. The Frogs will play 10 games in the venue this season, including nine against Big 12 Conference foes.
FINAL NON-CONFERENCE GAME
TCU plays its final non-conference game of the regular season against Southern Utah. The Frogs are looking to equal last year's regular season non-conference record of 8-3 with a win over Southern Utah.
PEBLEY AND SOUTHERN UTAH
TCU coach Raegan Pebley has a long history of facing off against Southern Utah. Tonight's game marks the seventh time that Pebley has faced off against Southern Utah. She has a 4-2 record against the squad but has won her last four meetings against the teams. In four wins over Southern Utah, Pebley's squads have held the Thunderbirds to 34, 37, 44 and 56 points. Southern Utah was the first-ever opponent for Pebley as a head coach on Nov. 21, 2003 in a home contest that resulted in a 79-60 loss for the rookie head coach in the inaugural game for Utah State when the program was revived during the 2003-04 season.
PEBLEY OFF TO BEST START AS HEAD COACH
TCU's 7-3 record marks the second straight year the Frogs have been 7-3 through 10 games. It also represents the best starts of Pebley's 13-year head coaching tenure.
ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST HOME COURT ADVANTAGES
The Horned Frogs are 214-54 (.799) at home since the start of the 1999-2000 season. Over the last three seasons, the Horned Frogs have posted a 34-8 mark at home as it has settled into its transition into the nation's toughest women's basketball league - the Big 12 Conference.
HOME WINNING STREAK WAS AMONG BEST IN PROGRAM HISTORY
TCU built an impressive home winning streak durign a span that covered the end of the 2014-15 season and beginning of the 2015-16 season. The streak ended at 12 games following a setback to No. 3/3 Notre Dame and included six wins to end last season. It was the third longest streak in program history. It marked the sixth time in program history that TCU had won at least 10 straight games at home and the first time it has happened since a streak that spanned the 2008-09 through 2010-11 seasons.
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