Preview: at South Dakota (WNIT)
3/24/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
(22-12)
(29-6)
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TwitterVERMILLION, S.D. -- TCU women's basketball continues its WNIT road trip as the Frogs take on South Dakota in the tournament's quarterfinals at Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT.
TCU (22-12) won at New Mexico on Thursday, 81-72, booking its second trip to the WNIT quarterfinals. South Dakota (29-6) beat Michigan State at home in overtime, 85-83, on Thursday night.
The winner of Sunday's game will move on to the WNIT semifinals to face the winner of Indiana and UC Davis. The Hoosiers and Aggies play at Indiana on Sunday afternoon. A WNIT semifinal appearance would be the first for TCU and the second for South Dakota, who won the tournament in 2016.
How to Follow
The game can be seen for free on GoYotes.com. It can also be heard on KTCU 88.7 FM in Fort Worth, as well as online via FrogVision, with Jeff Williams on the call. Live stats are available on GoYotes.com, and live updates will be provided on Twitter by following @TCUWBasketball.
Last Time Out
TCU trailed by as many as 14 points, but completed the comeback in an 81-72 win over New Mexico at Dreamstyle Arena -- The Pit in the WNIT Round of 16 on Thursday night.
TCU shot nearly 60 percent in the second half and used a 10-1 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away after coming back in the third quarter. The Frogs trailed by 14 points in the first half, cut it to seven at halftime, then scored 29 points in the third quarter to take the lead.
Jordan Moore led the Frogs with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and is now 19-of-22 in the WNIT. She had nine rebounds, as did Amy Okonkwo, as the Frogs outrebounded the Lobos, 42-30. Okonkwo added 13 points, Jayde Woods tied a career high with 14 and Kianna Ray added 12 to round out TCU's double-figure scorers.
New Mexico was 19-2 at home entering the game and had nearly 4,000 fans in the stands. TCU held the Lobos to just 3-of-16 shooting as it stormed back in the third quarter, then held the Lobos without a field goal in the final three minutes of the game.
TCU in the WNIT
The Frogs are now 8-5 all-time in the WNIT, have advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time and won three games in the tournament for the first time. TCU played in the 2008 quarterfinals, but needed just two wins to get there in a 48-team field. TCU has never advanced to the WNIT semifinals.
In this season's tournament, TCU is averaging 82.3 points per game, by far the most of the eight remaining teams. West Virginia is second and six points behind TCU at 76.3 per game.
The Frogs have shot over 50 percent in all three games, are shooting 49 percent from deep and are averaging over 20 assists per game. Moore is TCU's leading scorer and rebounder in the tournament at 15.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. She is 19-of-22 from the field.
Scouting South Dakota
South Dakota is coming off of an overtime win over Michigan State at home on Thursday in the WNIT Third Round. The Coyotes have played all of their WNIT games at home, beating Houston and Colorado State in the first and second rounds, respectively.
The Coyotes went 14-0 in the Summit League, but lost to South Dakota State in the conference tournament title game. USD has won 23 of its last 24 games and 14 straight at home where it is 17-1 this season. The Coyotes are 30-2 in the two seasons they've played at the newly built Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
Like TCU, South Dakota has a very efficient offense as it ranks in the NCAA top 25 in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage. The Coyotes made 11-of-22 3-pointers against Michigan State and average 9.0 from deep per game, ranking 16th in the NCAA.
The Coyotes have five All-Summit League selections, led by first-team picks Ciara Duffy and Allison Arens. Duffy leads the team in scoring (12.3), rebounding (5.0) and assists (2.5). She scored 25 in Thursday's win over Michigan State.
The Series
TCU and South Dakota are meeting for the first time. In fact, TCU has never played a game in the state of South Dakota.
TCU is 6-6 against current Summit League teams, with most of those games coming against Oral Roberts. TCU is 5-4 against Oral Roberts, including a win in Fort Worth in this season's opening game.
Up Next
Sunday's winner will face the winner of Indiana and UC Davis in the WNIT Semifinals. The Hoosiers and Aggies play on Sunday afternoon at Indiana.
The date, time and location of a semifinal will likely be announced after Sunday's game. Semifinals are set to be played on Wednesday or Thursday. The WNIT Championship game is schedule to be played Saturday, March 31, at 2 p.m.
UC Davis won at Kansas State on Friday night, leaving TCU and West Virginia as the only Big 12 teams remaining in the postseason.
