Women's Basketball Season Underway with First Official Practice
9/24/2019 7:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FORT WORTH – Tuesday marked the first day of official practice for the TCU Horned Frog women's basketball team, which the squad conducted at Ed & Rae Schollmaier Basketball Complex.
"This is so fun and it still feels like Christmas," TCU head coach Raegan Pebley said. "For me, the night before Christmas, I can't sleep and I still get excited, and that is how it was today. You think, okay we have 42 days before our first game and 30 practices before it is all put together. This is a period of time that we have to take full advantage of and treat every moment as a precious moment. There will be no other time this year where we will get a whole 10 days to just lock in and focus on ourselves, so we look forward to maximizing this time."
TCU opens the 2019-20 campaign at home on Tuesday, Nov. 5, hosting Robert Morris. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. at Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena.
Both season and single-game tickets are on sale now. For ticket information, contact the TCU Athletics Ticket Office at (817) 257-FROG (3764) or visit GoFrogs.com. In addition, if you want to support the women's basketball team and receive exclusive membership benefits, join the Fast Break Club. Membership opportunities are available now and information can be found at the link above or by clicking here.
For more information about the TCU women's basketball program, please visit GoFrogs.com, and follow the program on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
2019-20 QUICK HITS
What's Back:
• TCU returns eight letterwinners in 2019-20, including four players that made at least 22 starts each. Kianna Ray (35 starts) returns as the team's leading scorer, following a 2018-19 campaign where she tallied 10.2 points per game. Other returning starters include Lauren Heard (34 starts), Jayde Woods (22 starts) and Adeola Akomolafe (22 starts).
• Ray led the team with 142 assists and Heard dished out 113 dimes on the season. Heard is the returning team leader with 4.5 rebounds per game and 91 made free throws.
• Also returning to the squad will be Yummy Morris (3.1 ppg), Ryann Payne (2.1), Ella Hellessey (1.7) and Alexandria Crain (1.6).
• TCU also returns a pair of redshirt players in both Becky Obinma and Jaycee Bradley. Obinma sat out as a true freshman last season, while Bradley, who transferred to TCU from South Dakota, sat out due to NCAA transfer rules.
What's Gone:
• TCU lost its two top scorers in Jordan Moore (15.8 ppg) and Amy Okonkwo (14.3 ppg). Both players were tabbed All-Big 12 selections a year ago, with Moore being voted All-Big 12 First Team and an All-Defensive Team selection. Okonkwo earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team.
What's NEW:
• The Frogs welcome a pair of incoming freshmen and one senior transfer to this year's squad. Michelle Berry will play her final season of collegiate basketball here in Fort Worth after transferring to TCU from Virginia Tech, while incoming freshmen Tavy Diggs (Richardson, Texas) and Maddi Puli (Werribee, Australia) come in after signing NLI's to play for the Frogs last November.
STORYLINES:
• The Horned Frogs are coming off a 24-11 season in 2018-19, which included a 10-8 record and sixth-place finish in the Big 12 Conference. TCU earned an at-large bid into the WNIT, where they went 4-1 overall, falling to Arizona in the semifinals, who would go onto win the tournament championship.
• Head coach Raegan Pebley enters her sixth season at the helm of the program. She has guided TCU to back-to-back 20-win seasons and four postseason appearances through her first five years on campus.
• TCU's scoring defense (60.9 ppg) ranked third in the Big 12 last season. The Horned Frogs led the Big 12 and ranked 50th in the nation with 9.5 steals per game, and was tabbed No. 25 in nation with 331 total steals on the year.
"This is so fun and it still feels like Christmas," TCU head coach Raegan Pebley said. "For me, the night before Christmas, I can't sleep and I still get excited, and that is how it was today. You think, okay we have 42 days before our first game and 30 practices before it is all put together. This is a period of time that we have to take full advantage of and treat every moment as a precious moment. There will be no other time this year where we will get a whole 10 days to just lock in and focus on ourselves, so we look forward to maximizing this time."
TCU opens the 2019-20 campaign at home on Tuesday, Nov. 5, hosting Robert Morris. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. at Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena.
Both season and single-game tickets are on sale now. For ticket information, contact the TCU Athletics Ticket Office at (817) 257-FROG (3764) or visit GoFrogs.com. In addition, if you want to support the women's basketball team and receive exclusive membership benefits, join the Fast Break Club. Membership opportunities are available now and information can be found at the link above or by clicking here.
For more information about the TCU women's basketball program, please visit GoFrogs.com, and follow the program on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
2019-20 QUICK HITS
What's Back:
• TCU returns eight letterwinners in 2019-20, including four players that made at least 22 starts each. Kianna Ray (35 starts) returns as the team's leading scorer, following a 2018-19 campaign where she tallied 10.2 points per game. Other returning starters include Lauren Heard (34 starts), Jayde Woods (22 starts) and Adeola Akomolafe (22 starts).
• Ray led the team with 142 assists and Heard dished out 113 dimes on the season. Heard is the returning team leader with 4.5 rebounds per game and 91 made free throws.
• Also returning to the squad will be Yummy Morris (3.1 ppg), Ryann Payne (2.1), Ella Hellessey (1.7) and Alexandria Crain (1.6).
• TCU also returns a pair of redshirt players in both Becky Obinma and Jaycee Bradley. Obinma sat out as a true freshman last season, while Bradley, who transferred to TCU from South Dakota, sat out due to NCAA transfer rules.
What's Gone:
• TCU lost its two top scorers in Jordan Moore (15.8 ppg) and Amy Okonkwo (14.3 ppg). Both players were tabbed All-Big 12 selections a year ago, with Moore being voted All-Big 12 First Team and an All-Defensive Team selection. Okonkwo earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team.
What's NEW:
• The Frogs welcome a pair of incoming freshmen and one senior transfer to this year's squad. Michelle Berry will play her final season of collegiate basketball here in Fort Worth after transferring to TCU from Virginia Tech, while incoming freshmen Tavy Diggs (Richardson, Texas) and Maddi Puli (Werribee, Australia) come in after signing NLI's to play for the Frogs last November.
STORYLINES:
• The Horned Frogs are coming off a 24-11 season in 2018-19, which included a 10-8 record and sixth-place finish in the Big 12 Conference. TCU earned an at-large bid into the WNIT, where they went 4-1 overall, falling to Arizona in the semifinals, who would go onto win the tournament championship.
• Head coach Raegan Pebley enters her sixth season at the helm of the program. She has guided TCU to back-to-back 20-win seasons and four postseason appearances through her first five years on campus.
• TCU's scoring defense (60.9 ppg) ranked third in the Big 12 last season. The Horned Frogs led the Big 12 and ranked 50th in the nation with 9.5 steals per game, and was tabbed No. 25 in nation with 331 total steals on the year.
It's almost time for hoops at Schollmaier Arena! Join today and get exclusive rewards for TCU Basketball's biggest fans.
— TCU Frog Club (@TCUFrogClub) September 24, 2019
Men's 🏀 👉https://t.co/lkhpFzyaxH
Women's 🏀 👉 https://t.co/bZDUefga4Q
Benefit Levels 👉 https://t.co/VrXYps85uy pic.twitter.com/aYfqdrdmGf
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