Frogs Open Big 12 Play in Lubbock
12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TCU (8-3, 0-0) vs. Texas Tech (9-2, 0-0) | |
|---|---|
| Date (Time) | Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015 (6:30 p.m. CT) |
| Location | United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas |
| TV | Fox Sports Southwest Plus Robert Giovannetti (play-by-play) Andy Penney (analyst) |
| 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 opens Big 12 Conference play on Wednesday, traveling to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.
The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. CT tipoff at United Markets Arena and will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest Plus with Robert Giovannetti (Play-by-Play) and Andy Penney (Analyst) on the call.
The Horned Frogs finished in a tie for third in the conference last season with a 9-9 record after being picked to finish seventh in the league. In 2013-14, the Horned Frogs were picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll but finished the year seventh in the league standings. TCU was picked and finished 10th in the league in its inaugural Big 12 Conference season. The Frogs hope to continue the trend of finishing higher in the final season standings than they were predicted to finish yet again this season. The Frogs were picked fifth in the league standings but were just one vote out of a tie for fourth place in the league's preseason survey of coaches.
The Frogs are looking to open league play with a victory for the first time in their league opener, having suffered losses in their lid-lifter in each of their first three seasons in the Big 12 Conference, it includes a loss to Texas Tech last season in Lubbock to begin league play.
Senior Zahna Medley leads the Frogs with 16.1 points per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from the three-point line. Medley is one of six players on the TCU roster averaging at least 8.0 points per game this season.
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
• Tonight's matchup is a meeting of the two teams in the league that have four players in the top 30 in scoring in the Big 12 Conference. No other teams in the league have more than three players in the top 30.
• TCU is looking to end a five-game Big 12 Conference road losing streak with a victory in Lubbock.
• Senior Zahna Medley has knocked down at least three three-point field goals in 9-of-11 games this season. She accomplished the feat nine times last season and has done it 42 times in her career.
• Medley has dished out multiple assists in 14 consecutive games.
• Freshman Jordan Moore has multiple blocks in 9-of-11 games this season.
• Moore has scored at least eight points in seven 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 six games this season.
SERIES NOTABLES
• Texas Tech leads the all-time series 40-5.
• TCU is 5-3 against Texas Tech in the last eight meetings after posting an 0-37 mark in the first 37 meetings between the squads.
• TCU is looking for its third win in Lubbock all-time against the Red Raiders. TCU is 2-17 all-time against Texas Tech in Lubbock.
SCHOLLMAIER ARENA DEBUTS
TCU made its debut in the new Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena on Dec. 20, 2015, defeating Southern Utah 76-47. It marked the opening of new $72 million facility that forced the Frogs to play 25 games in the University Recreation Center on campus over the last two seasons.
PEBLEY OFF TO BEST START AS HEAD COACH
TCU's 8-3 record marks the second straight year the Frogs have been 8-3 through 11 games. It also represents the best starts of Pebley's 13-year head coaching tenure.
MEDLEY JOINS ELITE COMPANY
TCU All-American candidate Zahna Medley joined elite company on Nov. 24, 2015 against Prairie View A&M when she became the 45th player to score 1,500 career points as a player in the Big 12 Conference. The list includes current TCU assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Edwina Brown.
• Medley became the 5th player in TCU women's basketball history to reach the 1,500 career point mark.
• Medley became the 14th player in the combined history of TCU women's basketball and TCU men's basketball to reach the 1,500 career point mark when she surpasses the mark.
THREE FOR Z
TCU All-American candidate Zahna Medley is set to join the company of the top three point shooters in Big 12 Conference history in the near future. She currently ranks 12th in the league and needs five to tie for 10th place in league history.
MEDLEY LEFTOVERS
• Medley has hit multiple three-point field goals in seven straight games.
• Medley has scored in double figures or had at least three assists in every game this season and in all but four games of her career (101-of-105).
NEARING THREE WITH 800 CAREER POINTS
TCU is nearing a unique mark in having three players with 800 or more career points on its active roster. Zahna Medley and Veja Hamilton each have reached or neared the mark while at TCU while Destynee Hives-McCray is nearing the mark for her career between her accomplishments at both TCU and SMU.
HAMILTON LEFTOVERS
• Hamilton needs five points to reach 800 career points.
• Hamilton needs 51 rebounds to reach 500 for her career.
DIAZ'S CONTRIBUTIONS
TCU senior Caitlin Diaz has made consistent contributions in recent games, scoring at least seven points or grabbing at least seven rebounds in six of the last seven games for the Horned Frogs.
THOMPSON EMERGING AS ONE OF THE NATION'S TOP BENCH PERFORMERS
TCU sophomore transfer Toree Thompson has become one of the nation's most productive bench players. Currently averaging 10.4 points per game, Thompson ranks first in the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 54.2 percent, having converted on 26-of-48 attempts this season.
• Thompson has hit multiple three-point field goals in eight games this season.
• Thompson has scored at least 14 points in three of her last four games.
• Thompson scored at least eight points in 8-of-11 non-conference games.
• Thompson rose to the top of the NCAA's three-point field goal percentage charts for the season on Dec. 23, the unofficial end of non-conference play around the nation. She converted on 26-of-48 three-point field goal attempts in regular season, non-conference play for a 54.2 percent clip.
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