TCU
LSU
TCU Falters Late in Loss at LSU
12/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The TCU women's basketball team had problems with LSU's pressure defense late and faltered in a 67-61 loss to the Tigers at the Maravich Center on Sunday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
TCU (5-2) committed 22 turnovers, including seven in the fourth quarter when LSU (6-2) turned up its pressure on defense. The Frogs led by five, 55-50, with 5:23 to go, but LSU went on 12-0 run to take the lead for good. The run lasted until an AJ Alix 3-poitner with 1:45 remaining and included four TCU turnovers.
Alix finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, and a game-high six assists. Jada Butts led TCU in scoring with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Raigyne Moncrief led LSU with 22 points, five assists and five steals, with a three of those steals coming in the fourth quarter
The Rundown
LSU made a noticeable effort to score in the paint in the first quarter and used that ability to create an early 12-point lead. Alix's first 3-pointer came on TCU's final possession of the quarter and cut the deficit to nine, 22-13, after 10 minutes. The Tigers outscored TCU, 14-6, in the paint in the first quarter.
TCU, however, rebounded quickly and held LSU to 3-of-14 shooting in the second quarter while Butts scored seven of her points and pulled TCU ahead at the break, 31-29.
Amber Ramirez hit a 3-pointer on TCU's first possession of the second half and eventually TCU took it's biggest lead of the game at eight points, 41-33, with 5:19 to go in the third period.
However, from there LSU closed the quarter on a 13-2 run that included five TCU turnovers and gave the Tigers the lead, 46-43, entering the final 10 minutes.
The Frogs didn't go away, though, as Amy Okonkwo scored five points early in the fourth quarter to get TCU within one, 50-49. From there, Kianna Ray buried a trey and Jada Butts netted a 3-point play off of an offensive rebound to give TCU a 55-50 lead with 5:23 to go.
That was when four straight TCU possession's ended with turnovers, two with steals form Moncrief, and LSU pulled ahead to stay.
Stat of the Game
42.1 -- TCU again shot over 40 percent from deep with an 8-of-19 effort. The Frogs have shot over 40 percent from deep in five straight games, making at least six 3-pointers in all five of those games. The Frogs came into the game third in the country at 44.3 percent from long range.
Quote of the Game
Raegan Pebley - "We're so young that we're just going to keep growing, keep getting better and take advantage of every one of these opportunities to see what we do well and we need to get better at. I think LSU did a good job of getting aggressive when their back was against the wall and we got a little complacent."
Notes
- TCU shot over 40 percent from 3-point range for the fifth straight game, making at least six 3-pointers in each of those five games.
- AJ Alix scored 16 points, giving her five straight games with double-figure scoring. She also made at least three 3-pointers for the fifth straight game.
- Jada Butts' 17 points were a season high and her most since scoring 17 in the third round of last season's WNIT.
- Amber Ramirez made a 3-pointer on TCU's first possession of the second half, extending her streak to seven straight games with a 3-pointer (every game of her career).
- TCU is now 37-6 when leading at halftime under Pebley.
- TCU's starting lineup featured junior AJ Alix, freshman Amber Ramirez, senior Jada Butts, freshman Kianna Ray and sophomore Jordan Moore
Up Next
The Frogs return home on Thursday and play their second straight SEC opponent when No. 19 Texas A&M visits Schollmaier Arena. The Frogs and Aggies will tipoff at 7:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised by FS1.
